216 ARDEIUJ:. 



by day as well as by nigbt, while each twenty-four hours 

 found it some 300 miles further on its way across. It could 

 probably exist without food for far longer than such a passage 

 would require. 



This species is stated by Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and 

 Ridgway, to have a distribution almost co-extensive with 

 the Northern Continent itself. Richardson says, " It is a 

 common bird in the marshes and willow thickets of the 

 interior of the Fur-countries up to the 58th parallel. Its 

 loud booming, exactly resembling that of the Common 

 Bittern of Europe, may be heard every summer evening, 

 and also frequently in the day. When disturbed it utters a 

 hollow, croaking cry." The term mokoho, applied to this 

 species by Vieillot, Wagler, and others, has reference, prob- 

 ably, to the name by which this bird is known among the 

 Cree Indians. The specimen from which Edwards drew 

 the representation given in his Gleanings, plate 136, came 

 from Hudson's Bay. Mr. Bernard Boss states that its range 

 on the Mackenzie River extends even to the Arctic Ocean, 

 but the bird is probably rare so far north. It breeds, as a 

 rule, wherever it is found, from the Fur-countries, Labrador, 

 and Newfoundland, to Texas. It has various names in 

 different States ; such as Indian Pullet, Indian Hen, and 

 Dunkadoo, — a word, says Wilson, probably imitative of its 

 common note. It is an autumnal visitor to the Bermudas, 

 in varying, but sometimes considerable, numbers ; it has 

 occurred in Cuba, Jamaica, and probably some other West 

 Indian islands ; and Mr. Salvin obtained it in Guatemala. 

 Westwards, it is found in Vancouver's Island. 



The nest of the American Bittern is a slight structure of 

 reeds and grass when situated on dry ground, but in places 

 where there is a liability to inundations it is sometimes con- 

 siderably elevated. The eggs, usually four in number, but 

 sometimes, according to Capt. Bendire, from five to seven, 

 are equally obtuse at either end, and of a uniform brownish- 

 drab colour : average measurements 1'9 by 1-45 in. 



The usual food of this species consists of frogs, lizards, 

 and small mammals : but as an instance of its omnivorous 



