77 
HERONS, EGRETS, BITTERNS 
Nest. — On branches of trees and bushes near water ; loosely made of 
sticks and lined with leafy twigs. Eggs : 3 to 6, light bluish green. 
The green heron, with other mainly nocturnal herons, lives in 
woody swamps, bogs, or sedgy marshes, and often hunts along 
streams and ponds. When startled it flies up with a ‘ hollow gut¬ 
tural scream,’ but soon lights on a stump or tree, looking around 
with craned neck. It lives largely on small fish, frogs, larvae, and 
grasshoppers, together with a variety of insects. 
201b. A. v. anthonyi Mearns. Anthony Green Heron. 
Similar to virescens, but decidedly lighter colored ; sides of neck bright 
yellowish chestnut. Length : 19.10, wing 8.20, bill 2.35. 
Distribution. — Arid region of the southwestern United States, and 
south through Mexico ; north to Yreka, California. 
Anthonyi is a pale desert form of virescens , with only local modi¬ 
fications of habit. 
GENUS NYCTICORAX. 
General Characters. — Bill comparatively short and stout; head crested, 
and, in breeding plumage, with a few long white cord-like plumes from 
back of crown. / 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Crown black, cheeks and chin creamy white . . . naevius, p. 77. 
1'. Crown creamy white, cheeks and chin black . . violaceus, p. 78. 
Subgenus Nycticorax. 
202. Nycticorax nycticorax naevius ( Bodd .). Black- 
crowned Night Heron. 
Bill about as long as tarsus. Adults: crown and back black; wings 
and tail ashy gray ; forehead and throat creamy white, shading into light 
gray of sides and under parts. Young: crown blackish, streaked with 
buff; back dusky gray, spotted and striped, and quills tipped with buff; 
neck and under parts coarsely striped with buff and dusky. Length : 23- 
26, wing 11.00-12.80, bill 2.80-3.10, tarsus 3.10-3.40. 
Distribution. — Most of South America and north to southern Canada ; 
breeding throughout its range and wintering from the southern United 
States southward. 
Nest. — Roughly made of reeds, rushes, or sticks placed on the ground 
among reeds, or on bushes or trees. Eggs: 3 to 6, dull bluish. 
The black-crowned is one of the commonest and most widely dis¬ 
tributed of our herons. Pairs or small flocks pass hurriedly over¬ 
head morning and evening, uttering now and then the harsh gut¬ 
tural ‘ squawk ’ which gives them their commonest name. During 
the day you frighten them from their naps among the tules or reeds 
or from the leafy branches of the cottonwoods that overhang the 
streams; and whether one or a dozen are aroused, each loudly re- 
