226 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS 



THE AMERICAN BITTERN. 



AitDEA MINOR. 



PLATE LXXXIII. FiG. K9. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Bittern. Pennant, Arr-t. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 451. 



A. minor. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 3, p. 35, pi. 65, fig. 3. 



A. ( Botaunis) minor. Bonapakte, Ann. Lye. Vol. 2, p. 307. 



Botaurus id. Bonapakte, Geog. anil Comp. List, p, 48. 



A. lerdiginosa. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 371. Sabine, Frank. Journey. Not. Man. Orn. Vol. 2, p. CO. 



A. id. Audobon, B. of A. Vol. 0, p. 94, pi. 305. Gir.AUD, Birds of Long island, p. 285. 



Characteristics. Subcrested. Rusty yellowish, mottled and sprinkled with deep brown : 

 throat white, streaked with brownish. Crown, a line on each side of 

 the neck, and primaries black or blue-black. Length, 27 - 0. 



Description. Bill longer than the head, straight beneath, moderately arched above, stout, 

 pointed, 4 - in length, serrated on both mandibles, and on the upper notched near the tip. 

 Tibia bare for nearly an inch above the joint. Hind nail robust, much incurved, 1*2 long. 

 Middle toe and its claw longer than the tarsus. Feathers on the back of the head and neck 

 loose and elongated. Tail small, rounded, and of ten feathers. 



Color, of a male killed near the city, April 15 : Chin and throat white, with a few light 

 brown streaks. From the base of the lower mandible proceeds downwards a narrow rusty 

 brown streak, becoming broad and black, and turning upwards on the back part of the neck, 

 where it is lost. On the neck, breast and abdomen, the feathers are mottled reddish grey in 

 the centre, margined with dusky, and the external parts light cream-yellow. Often the web 

 of one side is entirely light cream, and the other web marked as above. Legs olive-green. 

 Vent and under tail-coverts reddish white. Above minutely mottled with grey, brown and 

 black-brown. In certain lights, a greenish metallic lustre is evident on the back, tertiaries 

 and tail. 



Length, 26-0-28-0. 



The American Bittern, also familiarly known under the names of Poke, Indian Hen, In- 

 dian Pullet, Look-up, Stake-driver, and in Louisiana Garde^soleil, is a southern species, 

 migrating northwardly in the spring, and retreating to the south in autumn. It appears along 

 our maritime borders in April, and leaves us in October. It breeds in this State, laying 

 three or four pale bluish eggs. It is a sly and solitary bird, preferring the depths of swamps 

 and marshes, and feeding on meadow mice, aquatic reptiles, fishes, and the larger winged 

 insects. It has latterly been supposed identical with a specimen described and figured by 

 Montagu in his Ornithological Dictionary, Suppl. verbo : " Heron freckled," the A. lenti- 

 ginosa, which is accidental in Europe. Our species ranges between the thirty-eighth and 

 fifty-eighth parallels. 



