218 ARDEID^. 



nape bare ; interscapulars, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, 

 rich brown, the centre of each feather the darkest and most 

 uniform in colour, the edges freckled with the darker brown 

 on a ground of yellow-brown ; the primaries uniform leaden- 

 brown, slightly tinged with chestnut ; the secondaries brown- 

 ish-black, broadly tipped with chestnut and freckled with 

 brownish-black ; all the shafts black ; tertials freckled dark 

 brown, red-brown, and buff; upper tail-coverts buff, freckled 

 with two shades of brown ; tail-feathers almost uniform 

 reddish-brown ; chin and front of the neck a mixture of 

 white, buff, and dark brown in streaks; ear-coverts, and a 

 line descending therefrom, yellow-brown : between this and 

 the throat in front an elongated descending streak of black ; 

 the loose elongated feathers of the front and sides of the 

 neck down to the breast, are brown along the centre, 

 bounded by a darker line, and with broad edges of pale 

 buff : breast and belly buff, each feather with an elongated 

 brown central patch ; vent and under tail-coverts uniform 

 buff ; legs and toes greenish-yellow ; the claws darker ; the 

 middle claw pectinated. As concisely stated by Mr. J. E. 

 Harting, in his excellent ' Handbook of British Birds ' 

 (p. 151), the American Bittern may be distinguished from 

 the Old World Botaurns stellaris by its smaller size, more 

 slender legs and feet, and the uniform leaden-brown colour 

 of the primaries, which in our species are broadly barred 

 across both webs with buff. 



The young are more reddish than the adults ; and the 

 mottling is coarser, with a tendency to form ragged trans- 

 verse bars. 



The whole length is about twenty-seven inches. From 

 the carpal joint to the end of the wing, eleven inches and 

 a half : the first three quill-feathers nearly equal in length, 

 and the longest in the wing ; the first quill-feather differs in 

 form from the second and third, being remarkably pointed 

 at the end, while the second and third are rounded. 



The nestling is covered with a yellowish-buff down, much 

 lighter than in the European Bittern. 



