In some parts of the Southern States, this species is quite abundant, while in the intermediate tracts it is seldom or never met with. Thus, in the Floridas, I found great numbers on a bayou near Halifax River, but afterwards saw none until I reached one of the keys, more than two hundred miles distant, and farther south, where it was breeding in society. The first of these flocks I saw in winter, the other on the 22d of May. Again, while proceeding toward the Texas, we saw a few on an island in Bay Blanche, but met with none afterwards until we reached Galveston Island, where they were plentiful. They seldom advance eastward far beyond North Carolina, and I am not aware of any having been seen farther than New Jersey. On the other hand, they are not generally found on the Mississippi beyond Natchez, although stragglers may sometimes be seen farther up. This species is by no means entirely nocturnal, for I have seen it searching for food among the roots of mangroves at all hours of the day, and that as assiduously as any diurnal bird, following the margins of rivers, and seizing on both aquatic and terrestrial animals. Whilst at Galveston, I frequently saw a large flock similarly occupied. When they had satisfied their hunger, they would quietly remove to some safe distance toward the middle of an island, where, standing in a crouching posture on the ground, they presented a very singular appearance. That they are able to see to a considerable distance on fine clear nights, I have no doubt, as I am confident that their migratory movements are usually performed at such times, having seen them, as well as several other species, come down from a considerable height in the air, after sun-rise, for the purpose of resting and procuring food. The flight of the Yellow-crowned Heron is rather slow, and less protracted than that of the Night Heron, which it however somewhat resembles. When in numbers, and surprised on their perches, they usually rise almost perpendicularly for thirty or forty yards, and then take a particular direction, leading them to some well-known place. Whenever I have started them from the nest, especially on the Florida Keys, they would sneak off on wing quite low, under cover of the mangroves, and fly in this manner until they had performed the circuit of the island, when they would alight close to me, as if to see whether I had taken their eggs or young.