206 



HERODIONES. 



ARDEIDii:. 



ARDEIBjF.. 







BOTAURUS STELLARIS (Linnffius*). 



THE COMMON BITTERN. 



Botcmrus stellaris. 



BoTAURUS, Stephensf. — Beak ratber longer than the head, strong, higher 

 than broad, the mandibles of equal length, upper mandible curved down- 

 wards. Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal, lodged in a furrow, and partly 

 covered by a naked membrane. Legs of mean length, tarsi scutellate ; toes long, 

 and slender, all unequal, the middle toe as long as the tarsus ; hind toe long, 

 articulated with the interior toe, and on the same plane : claws long, that of the 

 middle toe pectinated. Wing long, rather rounded, the first three quill-feathers 

 the longest, and nearly equal. Tail of ten soft feathers. 



* Ardea stellaris, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 239 (1766). 

 t Shaw's General Zoology, xi. p. 592 (1819). 



