EGGS OF BEITISH BIEDS. 65 



ties from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but its range does not 

 extend very far north. 



The nest is built on the mud, and is composed of dead reeds 

 and flags carelessly placed together so as to form a platform with 

 a slight depression in the centre. The number of eggs varies 

 from three to five. They are uniform huffish-grey in colour; the 

 shell is smooth and not very glossy, but does not partake of the 

 chalky character of that of the true Herons. They vary in 

 length from 2 "15 to 197 inch, and in breadth from 1 ■ 55 to 

 145 inch. The eggs of the Common Bittern, when held up to 

 the light, are not green inside, like those of the Herons, but 

 yellowish-brown, and vary somewhat in shape, some specimens 

 being pointed almost as much at each end as those of a Grebe. 



THE AMEKICAN BITTEEN. 



(Botaurus lentiginosus.) 



It is not known that the American Bittern has ever occurred 

 on the continent of Europe, but it is an occasional visitor to 

 Great Britain. It is found throughout the continent of North 

 America south of Alaska and Greenland, being a resident in the 

 southern States, but further north it is only a summer visitor, 

 and further south only a winter visitor. 



Some observers say that the nest is built in trees and low 

 bushes, and made of coarse grasses, twigs, and leaves ; whilst 

 others assert that the eggs are laid on the bare ground, on a 

 tuft of grass, or at the foot of a bush. The eggs of this bird 

 are similar in colour to those of the Common Bittern, being 

 greyish-buff, sometimes with an olive or brownish tinge. They 

 are from three to five in number, and vary from 2*1 to 1*9 inch 

 in length, and from 1*65 to 1*4 inch in breadth. 



THE LITTLE BITTEBN. 



{Botaurus minutus.)* 



Plate 17, Fig. 9. 



The Little Bittern is a very rare summer visitor to this 



country, but there is no reliable instance of its eggs ever having 



* Ardetta minuta— Saunders, Manual, p. 369 ; Sharpe, Handb., III., p. 88. 

 E 



