416 BOTAURIS STELLAHIS. 



appear from the public journals, that about the same period 

 of the year others were killed in Durham, Yorkshire, Devon- 

 shire, &c. Sir William Jardine observes : — " In the south 

 of Scotland a similar comparative abundance occurred ; 

 several were brought to me in Dumfriesshire ; and, on a 

 visit to Edinburgh, it was found that the bird-preservers 

 there had obtained also a more than usual number of speci- 

 mens." Mr. Thompson, after giving a long list of specimens 

 killed in Ireland, remarks : — " It will have been observed 

 that, in the winter of 1830-31, Bitterns were more than com- 

 monly frequent in Dublin and the neighbouring country — 

 in Waterford and perhaps in Down ; thus implying an 

 unusual migration to the island." 



The Bittern is said to visit Scandinavia in summer, and 

 to be found in Russia and Siberia. Thence it extends 

 southward over the whole of Europe, and in Asia as far as 

 India, China, and Japan. In our own country it is not 

 quite so rare as is commonly supposed. There is no recent 

 account of its visiting Shetland or Orkney, and I have not 

 heard of its occurrence in the outer Hebrides. The Rev. 

 Mr. Gordon says it is " occasionally met with as stragglers 

 about the Loch of Spynie and other marshes." I have seen 

 specimens obtained at the Loch of Strathbeg, in Fyvie, and 

 near Aberdeen, and one near Banff. The Rev. Mr. Smith 

 writes : — " I have known at least three specimens of the 

 Bittern being shot, at distant intervals, among the reeds 

 surrounding the Loch of Strathbeg. About eighteen years 

 ago, a very fine specimen was shot on the farm of Raltic, 

 near Banff." In the county of Kincardine it appears to be 

 extremely rare ; but in that of Forfar of not very unfrequent 

 occurrence, and especially near Forfar and on the Tay. In 

 the southern division of Scotland it has frequently been 

 killed. In England it has occurred in almost every district ; 

 and Mr. Thompson gives many instances of its mishaps in 

 Ireland. Like every other rare bird, everyone's hand is 

 against it. I never knew a person addicted to zoological 

 pursuits who did not destroy ten times more living creatures 

 than he needed ; and I know only one keen and accurate 

 observer of birds who never shot at all. 



