[Illustration 127: NEST AND EGGS OF GREEN HERON.] [Illustration: right hand margin.] Page 126 202. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. _Nycticorax nycticorax naevius_. Range.--North America from southern British Provinces, southward; winters along the Gulf coast and beyond. A well known bird, often called "quawk" from the sound of its note frequently heard in the evening. While, in some localities, only a few pairs of these birds are found nesting together, most of them gather together into large colonies during the breeding season. In New England they generally select a remote pine grove as their breeding grounds. If not disturbed they will return to this same place each year. Their nests are built of sticks and lined with small twigs, and are placed well up towards the tops of the trees. Frequently several nests will be found in the same tree, and I have counted as many as fifty nests in view at the same time. In large swamps in the south they generally nest at a low elevation, while in the marshes of Wisconsin and Minnesota, large colonies of them nest on the ground, making their nest of rushes. Like all Heronries, those of this species have a nauseating odor, from the remains of decayed fish, etc., which are strewn around the bases of the trees. Their eggs number from three to five and are of a pale bluish green color. Size 2.00 × 1.40. Data.--Uxbridge, Mass., May 30, 1898. 4 eggs. Nest of sticks, about thirty feet up in a pine tree. Many other nests. Collector, H. A. Smith. 203. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. _Nyctanassa violacea_. Range.--Sub-tropical America, breeding along the Gulf coast and to Lower California; casually farther north, to Illinois and South Carolina. A handsome grayish colored species, with long lanceolate plumes on the back, and two or three fine white plumes from the back of the head, like those of the Black-crowned species. Its black head, with tawny white crown and ear coverts, renders it unmistakable. This species nests in colonies or by pairs, like the preceding, and very often in company with other Herons. They lay from three to six eggs, very similar in size, shape and color to those of the Black-crowned Heron. [Illustration 128: Pale bluish green.] [Illustration: Black-crowned Night Heron. Yellow-crowned Heron.] [Illustration: left hand margin.] Page 127 CRANES, RAILS, etc. Order VIII. PALUDICOLÆ CRANES. Family GRUIDAE Cranes are large, long-legged, long-necked birds, somewhat resembling Herons. Their structure and mode of living partakes more of the nature of the Rails, however. They are found upon the prairies, where besides shell fish from the ponds, they feed largely upon grasshoppers, worms, etc. 204. WHOOPING CRANE. _Grus americana._ Range.--Interior of North America, breeding from about the latitude of Iowa northward to the Arctic regions; winters in the Gulf states and southward.