BOTAURUS. 275 



primaries and secondaries black or greyish black ; greater and lesser 

 wing-coverts dull yellowish buff; bill bright yellow, dusky above ; or- 

 bitar skin and irides yellow ; feet greenish with a yellow tinge. 



Length, — ]5 inches, wing 5"75, tail 2, bill at front r75. 



Hab. — Sind, Bengal, Punjab, Beloochistan, Persia and the Himalayas 

 are the only known localities where this species has been found outside 

 of Europe, Persia, Syria and Arabia. It breeds in the Narra Districts 

 in Sind, where Mr. S. Doig took its eggs.— (/S^r. F. viii. 372, 379.) 

 Each nest contained 4 — 6 eggs, elongate ovals, and pure white, with a 

 very slight tinge of sea green not perceptible in the blown Qgg. 



Gen. Botaurus. — Briss. 



Bill rather short, stout and rounded ; tip scooped ; the upper mandi- 

 ble curved to the tip, and longer than the lower; tarsi short; nostrils 

 narrow, situated near the base of the bill ; 1st to 3rd quills of wing 

 longest. 



Botaurus Stellaris, Linn.; Pl.E. 789; Naum. Vogt. t. 226; Oould. 

 B. Eur. pi. 280; Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 757, No. 936; Sir. F. i. 256; iv. 

 24; vii. 526 ; Murray, Hdbk., Zool, ^c, Sind, p. 228.— The Bittern. 



Forehead, crown and nape glossy black, also a moustachial stripe ; 

 sides of the face and ear-coverts buff, with narrow dusky streaks ; 

 feathers of the sides of the neck long and lax, bright buff, and with irre- 

 gular black transverse bars ; hind neck bare, covered by the feathers of the 

 foreneck ; chin and throat fulvous, with a median rufescent line ; fore- 

 neck and breast the same, each feather with irregular dark brown, 

 nearly black bars and spots ; lower breast with longj lax feathers, 

 which are buff, with broad longitudinal black stripes ; flanks the same ; 

 abdomen rufous buff, with narrow dark mesial streaks; back and 

 scapulars black, the feathers edged, barred and mottled wilh buff;, 

 tail buff, thickly mottled and with zigzag markings of dusky ; primaries 

 and secondaries dark brown, barred with rufous ; wing-coverts buff, 

 barred and mottled with dusky brown; bill pale yellow, dusky above;, 

 orbits yellow ; irides gamboge yellow ; legs greenish yellow. 



Length. — 30 inches, wing 13*5, tail 45, tarsus 3'75 to 39. 



Hah. — Sind, the Deccan, Punjab, N. W. Provinces, Oudh, Bengal, 

 and nearly all India ; Central and Southern Europe, Persia, Nubia, 

 Beloochistan and S. Afghanistan. 



The Bittern is a shy solitary bird ; it is never seen on the wing 

 during the day, but sits hid among the reeds, rushes and other rank 

 vegetation that prevail in the marsh, &c., where it has taken up its 

 abode. It is said to defend itself fiercely against a dog or falcon, with 

 both its bill and claws, the bill with its extremely shai'p point being 

 however chiefly made use of. It is said to have been esteemed in 

 falconry, owing to its habit, when flown at, to rise high up in the 

 air, ascending in spiral circles, to keep above its enemy. Selby 

 adds — '' Should this manoeuvre fail, it then prepares for the descent of 

 the hawk, by setting its sharp bill perpendicularly upwards, upon whicb 

 its antagonist frequently transfixes itself." Its boom or note is said tO' 



