92 Allen's naturalist's library. 



The True Bitterns are nearly cosmopolitan, our European 

 species being found throughout the PaL^arctic Region, and 

 being replaced in Africa by an allied form, B. capensis, which 

 is a smaller bird, mottled, rather than barred, with rufous. In 

 Australia and New Zealand occurs B. pi^ciloptenis, with brown 

 quills, and in South America a peculiar barred Bittern, B. 

 pinnatus. In North America the representative species is 

 B. lentiginosus^ described below. 



I. THE COMMON BITTERN. BOTAURUS STELLARIS 



Ardea s/eliaris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 239 (1766). 

 Botaurus siellaris^ Macg. Br. Br. iv. p. 410 (1852) ; Dresser, 

 B. Eur. vi. p. 281, pi. 403 (1875); B. O. U. List Br. B. 

 p. Ill (1883); Seebohm, Br. B. ii. p. 593 (1884) ; Saun- 

 ders, ed. Yarn Br. B. iv. p. 206 (1884) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. 

 Br. B. part vii. (1888); Saunders, Man. Br. B. p. 371 

 (1889). 



{Plate LXIX.) 

 Adult Male. — General colour above tawny-yellow and black, 

 this latter colour preJominating and occupying the centre of 

 the feathers, the sides of which are tawny-buff, freckled and 

 irregularly barred with black ; lower back, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts pale tawny-buff, mottled with bars or cross-lines 

 of dusky-brown; marginal wing-coverts rufous, regularly barred 

 across with black ; median and greater coverts tawny-buff, with 

 irregular bars or arrow-shaped markings of blackish-brown, 

 much less pronounced on the greater coverts, all of which 

 have a rufescent tinge near the base ; bastard-wing, primary- 

 coverts, and quills blackish, barred with rufous, the bars some- 

 what broken up on the inner webs of the quills, which are also 

 paler, the inner secondaries, like the scapulars, being tawny- 

 buff on their edges, and mottled in a similar manner ; the tail- 

 feathers tawny-buff, irregularly mottled with black bars or cross- 

 markings, more pronounced on the centre of the feathers ; 

 crown of head uniform black, with a frill of erectile plumes on 

 the nape, these being tipped with tawny-buff, and the pale tips 

 crossed with lines of black ; eyebrow, sides of face, and sides 

 of neck tawny-buff, the eyebrow uniform, except on the upper 

 edge, where the feathers are barred with black ; the ear-coverts 



