AIIDEID2E: BOTAURIN^ : BITTERNS. 663 
inch. Young very different ; grayish-brown above, the feathers with paler edges, and con- 
spicuously spotted with whitisli ; the lower parts paler or dull whitish, streaky with darker; 
green of head replaced by chocolate-brown; quills chocolate-brown, white-tipped; no occip- 
ital plumes. U. S. and British Provinces, common; migratory; resident in the south. 
Breeds in heronries, sometimes of vast extent, resorted to year after year. Nest large and 
frail; eggs 3-4, of usual shape, very pale sea-green color, averaging 2.00 x 1.50. Our 
species is only a variety of the European iV. grisea, whence the trinomial name; ^'ncovia" 
is only applicable to the young in the spotted stage. 
265. NYCTERO'DIUS. (Gr. vv^, nux, night; epcddios, erodios, a heron.) Thick-bill Night Her- 
ons. Of medium size ; length about 2 feet. Bill extremely stout for this family ; culmen curved 
throughout ; gonys convex, ascending ; commissure and lateral outlines of bill straight ; bill 
much shorter than tarsus. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, reticulate excepting above 
in front. Feathers of occiput lengthened, the longest of great extent, and linear, forming a 
hanging crest ; feathers of back lengthened and lanceolate, the longest loose-webbed, extending 
beyond the tail. Sexes alike ; colors variegated ; young very different. 
665. N. viola'ceus. (Lat. violaceus, violet-colored : straining a point.) Yellow-crov^ned Night 
Heron. Adult ^ 9 • General color grayish-plumbeous, or light grayish-blue, darker on the 
back, where the feathers have black centres and pale edges, and rather paler below. Head and 
upper neck behind black, with a cheek-patch, the crown, and most of the crest, white, more 
or less tinged with tawny. Quills and tail dusky plumbeous. Bill black; eyes orange; lores 
greenish; feet black and yellow. Length about 24.00; extent 44.00; wing 12.00 ; tail 5.00 ; 
bill scarcely 3.00, over 0.50 deep at base ; tibiae bare 2.00 ; tarsus 4.00 ; middle toe and claw 
2.75. Young : Above, grayish-brown, with an olive shade, streaked and spotted with brown- 
ish-yellow ; below, streaked with brown and whitish ; sides of head and neck yellowish-brown, 
streaked with darker ; top of head and neck above behind blackish, variegated with white. 
Bill blackish, with much of the lower mandible, and the lores, greenish-yellow ; legs the same, 
obscured on front of tarsus ; iris yellow. S. Atlantic and Gulf States, and southward, occa- 
sionally N. to the Middle States ; not abundant, and chiefly confined to the coast. Resident in 
Florida. Nest as usual in trees and bushes, in communities ; eggs 3, pale greenish-blue ; 2.00 
X 1.45. 
61. Subfamily BOTAURIN>E : Bitterns. 
Tail-feathers 10, broad and very soft. Powder-down tracts 2 pairs. Outer toe shorter 
than the inner. Claws long and little curved. The Bitterns form a well-marked section of 
Fig. 461. — Bill of Bittern, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
the family, if not one of subfamily value. They are retiring and solitary birds of the marsh, 
not gregarious, not nesting in communities on trees, but by separate pairs, and on the ground ; 
and the eggs have not the characteristic color of those of true Herons. 
