Least Bittern 81 



Genus IXOBRYCHUS. 



Very small Bitterns — wing 4 to 5 — with the head and nape slightly 

 crested ; the culmen about equal to or slightly exceeding the tarsus 

 and the middle toe with claw, which are themselves about equal ; ten 

 tail-feathers ; sexes unlike. 



A large, world-wide genus, with two American species only. 



Least Bittern. Ixobrychus exilis. 



A.O.U. Checkhst no 191— Colorado Records— Cooke 94, p. 183 ; 97 

 pp. 61, 157, 197. 



Description. — Male — Crown, which is slightly crested, back and tail 

 glossy black ; neck behind, greater wing-coverts and some of the inner 

 quills rich chestnut, outer primaries slaty, tipped with rufous ; other 

 wing-coverts brownish-yellow ; under-parts, including the front and 

 sides of the neck buffy -yellow and white, with narrow streaks of darker ; 

 a dark maroon patch on either side of the breast ; iris yellow, bill 

 yellow, darker on the culmen, legs greenish-yeUow. Length 14 ; wing 

 4-8; tail 1-85; culmen 1-80; tarsus 1-75. 



The female has the black of the crown and back replaced by a rich, 

 dark glossy-chestnut, more dusky on the former ; a pale buffy stripe 

 along the outer borders of the scapulars is very conspicuous. 



Distribution. — From New Brunswick and northern California south- 

 wards to the West Indies and Brazil ; a resident in the southern United 

 States and southwards ; a summer bird only north of this. 



The LeEist Bittern is a rare summer resident in Colorado ; about 

 eight instances of its occiu-rence are recorded, but it is probably less 

 rare than is generally supposed, as it is seldom seen owing to its skulking 

 and nocturnal habits. It was first reported by Cooke on the strength 

 of an example taken near Colorado Springs, now in the Aiken collection. 

 This, and a second one found aHve, but injured, in a yard in Colorado 

 Springs, Jim.e 18th, 1907, are now in the Museum of Colorado College. 

 Other records given by Cooke are : near Denver, reported by H. G. 

 Smith ; Berkeley Lake near Denver, June 8th, 1898, shot by 

 R. Borcherdt; Middle Park, August 5th, 1897, W. A. S^jrague ; South 

 Park, May 14th, 1875, Carter ; and Wet Mountain Valley, A. D. Baker. 



Habits. — Even more retiring and secretive than the 

 American Bittern, this little species inhabits the most 

 inaccessible and densely grown-up swamps and marshes. 

 It has a habit of climbing up and clinging motionless 

 to stout rushes, with its neck stretched out and its bill 

 pointed up, when it is almost entirely invisible. 



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