BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON, QUA-BIBD. 
83 
the Mississippi than the mouth of the Arkansas, to which a few are at times 
induced to go while rambling along the great stream. I never saw one, nor 
heard of any, whilst in Kentucky, and I doubt much if they are ever seen 
in the upper parts of the State of Tennessee. The distance of a hundred 
miles from the tide-mark appears to be the farthest extent of their inland 
movements. On the other hand, they are fond of resorting to the islands 
along the coast, on many of which they breed. 
At the approach of spring, great numbers of those who have wintered 
far south, leave their places of sojourn and migrate eastward, although 
probably an equal number remain in the low lands of Louisiana and the 
Floridas during the whole year. There, indeed, I have found them with 
eggs in April and May, and as young birds just fledged were very abundant 
at the same places, I concluded that these eggs were of the second laying. 
By the middle of March, the number of Night Herons is seen to increase 
daily in the Carolinas, and, about a month later, some make their appear- 
ance in the Middle Districts, where many remain and breed. They are 
not abundant in the State of New York, are seen sparingly breeding in 
Massachusetts, while only a few proceed to Maine, and farther eastward 
they are looked upon as a great curiosity. In Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, 
and Labrador, this species is quite unknown. 
Some European writers have alleged, that the Night Heron is scarce in 
the United States, and of rare occurrence even in the southern parts. I 
wish these people had been with me and my friend Bachman, or with 
some of the many hundred persons who reside in the Southern Districts, or 
have travelled from Louisiana to North Carolina. How strange .it would 
have appeared to such assertors of notions, to have seen a boat-load of Night 
Herons shot in the course of a few hours, and that too in the winter season. 
Excepting while breeding, this species is extremely shy and wary, 
especially the adults. To approach them from a distance after they have 
seen you, is no easy task. They seem to know the distance at which your 
gun can injure them, they watch all your movements, and at the proper 
moment leave their perches. Should you chance to crack a stick while 
advancing towards them, they start at once, give a few raps with their wings, 
in the manner of the Common Pigeon, and fly off as if delighted at your 
disappointment. On the contrary, you may shoot them with ease, if you lie 
in wait near the places to which they resort to roost by day, and at which 
they generally arrive singly, or a few at a time, when, from your place of 
concealment among the trees, you may kill them the moment they alight 
over your head, and at a short distance. In this manner I have known forty 
or fifty procured by two sportsmen in the course of about two hours. You 
may also not unfrequently shoot them at any hour of the day, by starting 
