We really don't see color at night, at least not in very, very low light. You are correct that the eye perceives wavelengths of light that are reflected by a material. The wavelengths that are absorbed by the material are not bounced back into the eye, and we "see" the color of the wavelengths that are reflected back into the eye. Through the cones, one type of receptor in the retina, color is interpreted by...
We really don't see color at night, at least not in very, very low light. You are correct that the eye perceives wavelengths of light that are reflected by a material. The wavelengths that are absorbed by the material are not bounced back into the eye, and we "see" the color of the wavelengths that are reflected back into the eye. Through the cones, one type of receptor in the retina, color is interpreted by the brain after the signal is transmitted through the optic nerve. There are also rods in the retina, another type of receptor that mainly is concerned with areas of black and white. The rods are much better able to function in low light than are the cones. When the light level is too low, the cones are not able to send much information on the color of an object to the brain and we do not see color much, if at all. This is something you can experiment with--try seeing how much light it takes to see color as you slowly increase light levels from pitch blackness.
More detail on theories of color perception, and on color blindness, are contained in the links below.
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