214 ARDEID.E. 



time making a collection of birds. The specimen was quite 

 fresh when it arrived at Penryn, where it was preserved ; 

 but the sex was not noted. When Colonel George disposed 

 of his collection, this bird was bought for Montagu, and was 

 afterwards, with his other birds, transferred to the British 

 Museum, where it is still preserved. Montagu distinguished 

 it as a new species, naming it Ardea lentiginosa, ' The 

 Freckled Heron,' and as such it is figured in the Supple- 

 ment to his Ornithological Dictionary (1813). The following 

 year the species received the name of Ardea minor from 

 Alexander Wilson. 



In Devonshire, a specimen which no longer exists, but 

 which was recorded as " exactly corresi^ondiug with Mon- 

 tagu's description," was in the collection of the late Dr. 

 Moore, and was obtained near Plymouth on the 22nd 

 December, 1829 ; and in October, 1876, one was shot near 

 Parracombe, North Devon (Zool. s.s. p. 4720). A bird 

 was shot in Hampshire in February, 1876 (' The Field,' 

 10th March, 1877). In Sussex, one, obtained in Pevensey 

 Marshes, on the 26th November, 1867 (Zool. s.s. p. 1098), 

 is now in the collection of Sir John Crewe ; and one killed at 

 Amberley on the 30th November, 1883, is in the collection 

 of Mr. W. Borrer (Zool. 1884, p. 68). As regards Kent, 

 one killed near Canterbury, about 1854, has been identified 

 by Mr. J. H. Gurney (Zool. s.s. p. 145). On the eastern 

 side of England one shot at Slingsby, near Malton, on the 

 4th December, 1871, is in the collection of Sir John Crewe 

 (Clarke, Yorks. Yertebs. p. 51) ; and one was killed near 

 Northallerton, on the 27th October, 1882 (Zool. 1884, 

 p. 177). On the west side, one, examined in the flesh by 

 Mr. Gurney, was secured in Anglesea in 1851 (Zool. s.s. 

 p. 145) ; and one, identified by Mr. Cecil Smith, was killed 

 in October, 1872, at St. David's, Pembrokeshire (Zool. 

 1883, p. 341). In Lancashire, a male, described by Mr. 

 Cooper (Zool. p. 1245), was shot at Fleetwood, on the 8th 

 December, 1845 ; and a bird believed to be of this species 

 is recorded by Mr. J. Pi. Wallace, in the Isle of Man. 



In Scotland, an American Bittern was obtained l)y the 



