BOTAURUS. 127 



on side of neck ; lower parts nearly immaculate ; wing 10.10, culmen 

 3.25, tarsus 3.75, middle toe 3.75. Hah. Tropical America, north to 

 Nicaragua. 



B. pinnatus (Wagl.). South American Bittern.^ 

 o?. Size very small (wing less than 6.00) ; sexes more or less different in color (ex- 

 cept in A. involucris ?), and young appreciably different from adults. (Sub- 

 genus Ardetta Gray.) 

 ¥. Uj)per parts not conspicuously striped ; adult males with top of head, 

 back, scapulars, rump, and tail uniform glossy black. 



&. Quills tipped with cinnamon-rufous, or pale cinnamon ; adult male with 

 a distinct narrow stripe of buff along each side of back. 



Adult male : Sides of head and neck ochraceous, deepening into 

 chestnut on hind-neck ; chin, throat, and fore-neck whitish, 

 striped with pale buff; central portion of wing-covert region 

 buff, surrounded by cinnamon-rufous ; lower parts buff-whitish. 

 Adult female : Similar to the male, but black replaced by brown, 

 and scapular stripes much broader. Young : Similar to adult 

 female, but feathers of back and scapulars tipped with buff. 

 Length 12.00-14.25, wing 4.30-5.25, culmen 1.60-1.90, tarsus 

 1.50-1.75, middle toe 1.40-1.60. Eggs 1.20 X -93, white, or 

 greenish white. Hab. "Whole of temperate Noi'th America, and 

 tropical America south to Brazil. 



191. B. exilis (Gmel.). Least Bittern. 



c^ Quills without rufous or cinnamon tips ; adult males without trace of 



lighter stripe along sides of back. 



d^. Adult male : Lower tail-coverts dull black ; wing-coverts rich 



chestnut ; neck similar, the lower parts more rufous ; length 



(skin) 10.80, wing 4.30, culmen 1.80, tarsus 1.40. Hab. Southern 



Florida (Caloosahatchie River; near Lake Okeechobee). 



— . B. neoxenus (Cory). Cory's Least Bittern.'' 

 d'^. Adult male : Lower tail-coverts white ; wing-coverts pale grayish 

 buff, becoming nearly white on greater coverts; neck similar, 

 but darker and more tinged with buff; lower parts pale buffy, 

 becoming white medially and posteriorly. Adult female : 'Ba.c'k, 

 scapulars, and rump umber-brown, streaked narrowly with 

 buffy (except on lower back and rump) ; rest of plumage much 

 as in adult male, but more decidedly buffy, the fore-neck con- 

 spicuously striped, the sides, etc., more narrowly striped, or 

 streaked. Length aboiit 12.00-13.00, wing 5.50-5.80, culmen 

 1.75-1.85, tarsus 1.60-1.70. Hab. Europe, etc. 



B. minutus (Linn.). European Least Bittern.3 

 b^. Upper parts conspicuously striped with black and ochraceous ; quills broadly 



1 Ardea pintiata "Licht." Wagl., Isis, 1829, 663. Botaurus pinnatus Gray, Gen. B. iii. 1847, 557. 



"^ Ardetta neoxena CoRV, Auk, iii. April, 1886, 262; ib. July, 1886, 408. 



^ Ardea minuta Linn., S. N. ed. 12, i. 1766, 240. Botaarua minutus Boie, Isis, 1822, 559. 



