94 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
bluish or greenish gloss, in sharp contrast to white of forehead, neck, and underparts 
and ash gray of wings and short tail; iris red, skin of naked lores greenish, bill 
black, legs and feet yellowish. Young , in first year: Upperparts cinnamon brown, 
wings with tear-shaped and round white marks; throat white, rest of underparts 
(except lower belly, etc.) heavily striped with brown and white; iris yellow or dull 
orange. 
Comparisons. —The striped young Black-crowned Night Heron must not be 
confused with the Bittern (see p. 96). It is never yellowish, the back is coarsely 
marked, and the wing quills are never black. It often alights and nests in trees 
or bushes, which the Bittern never does. 
Range. —From southern Canada to Central and South America. Breeds from 
southern Saskatchewan, Oregon, Wyoming, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New 
Brunswick south to the Falkland Islands, Chile, and the Hawaiian Islands. Resi¬ 
dent in Central and South America. In North America winters from Oregon, 
Utah (rarely), and Massachusetts south along Atlantic and Gulf States and in 
California. 
State Records.— Few species of birds have a wider distribution in the world than 
the Black-crowned Night Heron; in the Western Hemisphere it breeds from Canada 
to Patagonia [southern Argentina], but New Mexico has comparatively few locali¬ 
ties adapted to its needs and it is rather rare in the State; it is, however, probably 
more common there than its few New Mexico records would indicate. One voung 
bird was seen September 24, 1913, on Red River near Dorsey (Kalmbach); it was 
noted through the summer and undoubtedly nested on the Rio Grande near Fort 
Thom (Henry), and is a common breeder at Mesilla (Merrill). A small colony 
nested in 1901 near Carlsbad and young just able to fly were found there July 25 
(Bailey); at Lake Burford, 7,500 feet, a small colony of 25-30 birds with full-grown 
young was noted July 30, 1913. [In the last of July, 1916, they were nesting abun¬ 
dantly and young unable to fly were found (Ligon); while in May-Junc, 1918, 15 
pairs were preparing to breed (Wetmore). At Silver City they are fairly abundant 
in spring and probably breed (Kellogg, 1927).] 
In fall they were noted on the Mimbres in 1912 (Rockhill); several were seen near 
Gila, October 6-12, 1908 (Goldman), and three at Bernalillo October 29, 1900 
(Birtwell); on the Carlsbad Bird Reserve a specimen was taken in October,' 1908, 
and three others were seen by M. A. Ohnemus in November. [In Albuquerque a 
flock wintered in 1917 and 1918 (Leopold).] 
In the spring the species was noted March 8, 1903, at Mesilla (Ford), and April 
14, 1901, at Albuquerque (Birtwell).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest.— In colonies, platforms of sticks placed on bushes or tree tops; or of reeds 
or rushes laid on the ground among reeds. Eggs: Usually 3 to 5, pale bluish green. 
Food. Frogs, toads, tadpoles, lizards, salamanders, leeches, fish, water-dogs, 
crawfish, crabs, dragon fly nymphs, wasps, crickets, grasshoppers, weevils, Colorado 
beetles, and other insects; also mice, and sometimes aquatic plants, fed to the young. 
General Habits. —As we rode our horses up the irrigation ditch to 
the Carlsbad dam on July 25, 1901, from an island-like mass of cat-tails 
edged with rushes, thirteen of the gray-winged Black-crowned Night 
Herons rose unwillingly, a striped young one just able to take wing 
straggling heavily behind. With necks crooked in and wings flapping 
quickly, they flew ahead of us for a few rods; then turned and with 
flattering confidence flew back down the ditch facing us with black 
crowns and black backs in evidence, settling back in the cat-tails to 
