Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/457

 NIGHT HEKON white and brown; quills brown; five outer primaries with a white blotch midway between the tip and carpal joint ; the female has not the white patch on the tail, and that on the throat is mixed with reddish. The common name of this bird is ill chosen, as it is not a hawk, nor does it fly by night ; in cloudy weather it flies all day, and its favorite time is from an hour before sunset to dark. It is distributed over North America, appearing in Louisiana on the way to the north and east about April 1, in the middle states about May 1, in Maine about June, going even into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and returning to the south in autumn. The flight is rapid, light, and capable of long continuance. From the small size and backward position of the legs, it can hardly walk, or stand erect. It breeds from South Carolina to Maine ; in the middle states it deposits two freckled eggs about May 20, on the bare ground, without any nest; both sexes assist in incubation, and the female adopts various devices to distract attention from her eggs or young. The food consists of insects, especially beetles, moths, caterpillars, crickets, and grasshoppers ; it drinks while flying low over the water, in the manner of swallows. The flesh is esteemed as food when they return from the north in autumn, as it is then fat and juicy. It is the C. popetue of Baird. Other species are described. ^ NIGHT HERON, the common name of the di- vision nycticoracece of the family ardeidce or herons. The common night heron of America is the nycticorax ncevius (Bodd.), or nyctiardea Oardeni (Baird) ; the bill is 3 in. long above, very stout, curved from the base, with emargi- nated tip and compressed grooved sides ; wings long, the second and third quills longest ; tail short and even, with 12 feathers ; tarsi strong, as long as the middle toe, covered with small scales; toes long and slender, united at the NIGHTINGALE 443 Night Heron (Nyctiardea Gardeni). base by a membrane, the outer the longest, and the hind one even with the others; claws moderate, slightly curved, and acute ; the neck short, with a long occipital plume of three feathers, rolled together; body slender and compressed; lower fifth of tibise bare. The bill is black, the iris red, and the feet yellow ; the head above and the middle of back steel green; wings and tail ashy blue; forehead, under parts, and occipital feathers white, pass- ing into pale lilac on the sides and neck ; the length is 25 in., the extent of wings about 43, and the weight nearly 2 Ibs. ; the adult female resembles the male, but the young are grayish brown above. It is distributed generally over the United States, residing permanently in the southern portion; in the eastern states it is called the "qua" bird from the noise which it makes. Going north in the spring, some get as far as Maine : at Hingham, Mass., and in the woods near Fresh pond, Cambridge, there used to be famous heronries, to which the birds re- turned year after year, until the persecutions of those in search of their young drove them away entirely, or into more inaccessible places. The nests are made of coarse sticks on bushes or trees, often overhanging the water, and are revisited and repaired annually ; they congre- gate in large numbers in the breeding season, during which they lose their natural shyness ; the eggs are usually four, 2 by 1-^ in., of a plain light sea-green color and thin-shelled. By day they are harassed by crows, hawks, and vul- tures, and at night by raccoons and other animals. The young birds are as tender and juicy as pigeons. They return to the south in autumn. The night heron generally remains on the low swampy lands near the coast, where it feeds upon fish, reptiles, crustaceans, water insects, leeches, and even mice and such other small animals as fall in its way. The flight is slow, steady, and long continued, with the head drawn in and the legs extended ; on the ground it is very restless, and without the grace of the true herons. The European night heron (N. griseus, Strickl.) is similar, but smaller, and the young have not the white spot at the apex of the quills seen in the American bird. Several other species occur in other parts of the world. NIGHTINGALE (luscinia philomela, Bonap. ; the pMlomela of the ancients and rossignol of the French), one of the finest of European singing birds, whose melody has been cele- brated from time immemorial. The genus be- longs to the subfamily of warblers, from which it differs principally in its more slender shape and longer bill, tarsi, and tail ; it comes near many of the smaller thrushes both in form and color, and in the character of the song. In this genus the bill is short and straight, with the culmen slightly curved, sides compressed, and tip emarginated ; the gape without bris- tles ; the wings moderate, with the first quill one third the length of the second, and the third the longest ; the tail moderate, rounded at the sides ; tarsi long and strong, covered in front with an entire scale ; toes very long and slender, the outer longer than the inner and united at the base ; hind toe long, with a curved