132 THE BIRDS OF DORSET. 



occurred in Dorsetshire, although two other examples 

 have been procured at long intervals in the adjoining 

 county of Devon. The bird described by Montagu, 

 which is preserved with the rest of his collection in 

 the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, 

 was shot by Mr. Cunningham near Piddletown in 

 this county in the autumn of 1 804. It is a remarkable 

 fact that this American bird should have been first 

 described from a specimen obtained in Dorsetshire 

 a year before it was made known to American 

 naturalists by Wilson ("American Ornithology," vol. 

 viii. p. 35, pi. Ixv.). It may be distinguished from 

 the European Bittern by its smaller size, and by the 

 uniform colour of the primaries, which in our bird 

 are barred. 



Fam. Ciconiid^. 



WHITE STOEK. Ciconia alba, Beclistein. 



Yarrell, iv. p. 219 ; Harting, p. 54 ; Dresser, vi. p. 297 ; Seebohn, 

 ii. p. 525 ; Ibis List, p. 112. 



I am not aware that more than two specimens of 

 this accidental visitor from the Continent have been 

 observed in Dorsetshire. These w^ere seen in Poole 

 harbour in April 1884, and I believe were subse- 

 quently shot at Christchurch. 



