<f ; 290 )
YELLOW-CROWNED HERON.
ARDEA VIOLAOEA, LlNS.,.
f U T t OOCXXXVL AIH'LT AKD Yockii.
The Yellow-crowned Heron, which is one of the handsomest species
of its tribe, is called " Cap-cap" by the Creoles of I.oner Louisiana,
in which country it is watched and shot with great eagerness, On
account of the cxcollonce of its flesh. It arrives'about New Orleans
toward the end of March, and departs in the middle of October. On
arriving, they throw themselves among the thickets along the bayous,
where they breed. Like the Night Heron, this specie* may be enticed
near by imitating its cries, whe'n it approaches,' 'ratting many curious
zigzags* in the air, and alights close by. It is a curious circumstance
that when passing over several gunners placed on the watch for them,
they dive toward the ground if ShSt; at and missed, and this they do
several times in succession, according to thejiuniber of shots. It is in
the evening and at dawn that they art; chiefly obtained. They are
said not to travel in boisterous weather, or when there is thunder; and
I have heard the same- stated with regard to the' Night Heron.
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 Florida*, I found grealSiumbers 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
iu society. ' The first of these flocks I saw in whiter, 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 thoy wen; 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 tor food among the roots of mangroves at all hours of the
day, and that as assiduously as any diurnal bird, following the margins.
YELLOW-CROWNED HERON. 291
: 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 Minger, they would quietly remove to some
safe distance toward the middle of an island, whore, standing in a
crouching peitiiie-on the ground, they presented a very singular appearance.
That they are able to see to a considerable distance on fine
clear nights, 1 have .fio doubt, I am confident that their migratory
movements are usually-performed at such times, having seen (hem, 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-crowm-d Hero® :&> 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 th'em to some well-known place.
Whenever I have started them from the nest, especially on the 'Florida
Keysjl-«|y would sneak off on wing quite- low, uuder cover of the
mangroves, and fly in this mannef Until tlmy had performed the circuit
of the island, when they would alight close to ine, as if to see whether
I had taken their eggs or young.
When on the ground, they exhibit little of the elegance displayed
liv the Louisiana, the Reddish, the Blue, or the White Herons ; they
advance with a leSs sedate pace, and seldom; extend their neck much
,.Vcn when about to seize their food, which they appear to do with little
concern, picking it up from the ground in the manner of a domestic
fowl. Nor aie. they at all delicate in tie choice of their viands, but
1 Swallòw snails, fish, small snakes, crabs, crays, lizards, and leeches, as
well as small quadrupeds, and young biids that have fallen from their
nests. One Which was killed"by my friend Euwaud Harms, Esq., on
the 19th of April 1837, on an island in the Bay of Terre Blanche, about
" 4 o'clock in the evening, was, when opened siext morning, found to have
swallowed a terrapin, measuring about an inch and a half in length, by
• one in breadth. It was still alive, and greatly surprised my companions
as well as myself by crawling abbut when liberated.
This species places its nest either high or low, according to the nature
of the flàéè selected for it* and the abundance of food in the neighbourhood.
In the interior of swampy woods, in Lower Louisiana, I
have found the nests placed on the tops of the loftiest cypresses, and