Nest.—A platform of sticks; eggs pale bluish-green. (2.00 × 1.40).
Range.—Breeds north to New Brunswick and Manitoba; winters in the Gulf States and southward.
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON
203. Nyctanassa violacea. 23 in.
Like the last species, the head of this one is adorned with three long, rounded, white plumes; in life these plumes are rarely separated, but are nested together so that there appears to be but one. As dusk approaches, these birds sally out from their roosting or nesting places, and with slow, measured flaps, wing their way to their feeding grounds, which are usually fresh water bogs, teeming with animal and insect life. After dark the “quark” of Night Herons is frequently heard as the birds pass overhead, and they can very easily be decoyed by a crude imitation of their call. This species is principally confined to the South where it is found in heronries of its own kind, or in company with others.
Notes.—Like those of the [Black-crowned Night Heron].
Nest.—A platform of sticks in trees, in swamps. 3 or 4 pale bluish-green eggs (2.00 × 1.40); May.
Range.—Breeds north to South Carolina and Southern Illinois; later may stray farther north.
