SQUACCO BITTERN. 429 



Feet long, rather slender. Tibia feathered to the joint. 

 Tarsus of moderate length, reticulated with hexagonal 

 scales. Toes rather long, slender, scutellate above, flat 

 beneath ; first toe large, second a little shorter than the 

 first. Claws rather long, arched, compressed, acute ; that of 

 the middle toe serrate on its inner thin edge. 



Plumage full, soft, blended ; occipital feathers elongated, 

 linear, forming a decumbent plume or crest ; those of the 

 fore part and sides of the neck long, with the filaments dis- 

 united toward the end; dorsal feathers much elongated, 

 with disunited filaments ; wings and tail rounded. 



The bill is greenish-blue, becoming dusky toward the 

 end ; the loral spaces green ; the legs yellowish-brown ; the 

 toes umber-brown ; the claws black. The upper part of the 

 head is pale yellowish-brown streaked with darker, the 

 feathers gradually elongated behind, those of the occiput pale 

 yellow or white on the margins, with a submarginal black 

 line ; the sides and fore part of the neck buff-yellow ; the 

 back is anteriorly yellowish-brown ; the elongated plumes 

 pale reddish-yellow. The wings are white, the tips of the 

 inner secondaries and some of the coverts tinged with 

 brownish-yellow ; the hind part of the back and the tail are 

 white ; the throat, lower parts of the body, and under surface 

 of the wings are also white. 



Length to end of tail 18 inches ; wing from flexure 9 ; 

 bill along the ridge 2j. 



Female. — The female is similar to the male. 



Habits. — This species, which is said to inhabit the sides 

 of rivers and lakes, marshes, and maritime pastures, but of 

 the habits of which little seems to be known, is extensively 

 distributed in Western Asia, and the countries about the 

 Caspian and the Mediterranean seas. Its migrations, how- 

 ever, do not extend northward beyond the Baltic. It is 

 said by Temminck to feed on small fishes, insects, and tes- 

 taceous mollusca, and to nestle on trees. 



Several specimens have been obtained in the southern 

 and south-eastern counties of England. Scotland has not 



