74 ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES— HERODIONES. 



The Least Bittern has an extended distribution, being found very nearly through- 

 out the United States, and only not found, so far as we are aware, in the more 

 northerly and eastern portions. It has not been met with by Mr. Boardman near 

 Calais, it is not included by Mr. Verrill as a bird of Oxford County, and is men- 

 tioned as rare even in Southern Maine, and is classed as very rare by Mr. Allen, 

 near Springfield, Mass. Like all nocturnal birds, and more especially those species 

 that shelter themselves in the day-time among the rank grass and rushes, it 

 is probably l)y no means so rare, in many places, as has been supposed. It feeds 

 exclusively in tlie night-time, and is rarely seen flying during the day. It is not 

 uncommon in eastern Massachusetts, breeding in Fresh Pond marshes, where 

 Mr. "Wm. Brewster has met with it both in May and in July. Giraud includes it 

 among the birds of Long Island, where it is usually found hidden in the tall grass 

 and reeds, along the margins of freshwater streams. A few were secured among 

 the salt meadows near Babylon, and on the Hanover Meadow near Pine Brook. It 

 has also been occasionally found on the banks of tlie Hackensack. Specimens are 

 recorded as having been taken near the city of Brooklyn, and others in a swamp 

 near Port Hamilton. In the latter place young birds, still unable to fly, were cap- 

 tured. In the Western States it is much more aliimdant, and in Canada, especially 

 in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes. Mr. Mcllwraith mentions it as a common 

 summer resident near Hamilton, and Mr. Kumlien lias found it breeding in abun- 

 dance around Lake Koskonong, in Wisconsin. It appears to be resident in Texas 

 and in Northeastern Mexico. Mr. Dresser met with it, in July and August, in 

 the neighborhood of Matamoras, and occasionally saw it in the vicinity of San 

 Antonio. Mr. Salvin mentions it as found in Guatemala, but whether as a winter 

 visitant or a resident, he does not state. He found it both at Dueiias and at 

 Coban. 



It is also found in several of the West India Islands. In Cuba it is given by 

 Dr. Gundlach as a resident throughout the year, and its breeding is inferred. It 

 is mentioned l)y Gosse as among the birds of Jamaica, where it is not unfrequently 

 seen dodging about the edges of the tall reeds of the morasses, or among the rank 

 sedgy grass that borders the streams. When alarmed, it does not usually fly, but 

 darts into the rushy covert, where the thinness of its form enables it to make its 

 way with ease. When surprised in an open place it crouches, as if expecting to 

 escape observation. In its stomach are found small fishes and Crustacea. In 

 Jamaica it is called, according to March, the " Tortoise-shell Bittern." Leotaud 

 names it as one of the birds of Trinidad; but how common it is in that island he 

 was not able to state. It keeps close among tlie reeds which cover the flooded 

 regions, and is probably quite abundant ; although rarely seen, on account of the 

 difficulty of discovering it in the midst of its retreat. It occasionally approaches 

 the edges of narrow Avatercourses, to fish for the small fry on Avhich it feeds. Its 

 flight is very feeble, and not well sustained. It nests in Trinidad, and has been 

 observed there at all seasons of the year. 



Dr. Cooper speaks of it as common among the great fresh marshes of the interior 



Piump, upper tail-coverts and tail, uniform plumbeous-Hack. Anterior and outer lesser wing-coverts, 

 inner secondaries (outer webs) and greater wiiig-eoverts, uniform cinnamon-rufous ; posteiior, lesser, and 

 all of the middle wiiig-coverts, liglit grayish buff (much ])aler than in cxifia) ; tinged with deeper buff, 

 the grayish tints minutely freckled. Primary-coverts and remiges slaty plumbeous, tipped with light 

 cinnamon -rufous. 



Wing, 4.G0; culmen, 1.G8 ; depth of bill, through nostril, .32; tarsus, 1.15; middle toe, 1.12; 

 inner toe, .98 ; outer, .95 ; hallux, .58. 



