ARDEIDA. 361 
principally consists of various shades of brown and 
buff. The beak is brownish yellow, the upper man- 
dible dark brown along the upper ridge and at the 
point; the lore green; irides yellow; the top of the 
head very dark brown, almost black; cheeks, ear- 
coverts and a streak over the eye yellowish brown, 
pencilled with dark brown; there is a streak of dark 
reddish brown under the eye; the chin is white, 
tinged with yellow; on the fore part of the neck are 
long streaks of reddish brown on a yellowish white 
ground; belly and under parts the same; the sides 
of the neck streaked yellowish brown, dark brown 
and black,—the feathers are very long and almost 
meet behind on the back part of the neck, on which 
part there are no feathers, only a sort of yellowish 
down ;* all the feathers of the back and scapulars 
are black, margined with buffy yellow, the margins 
freckled with black; the wing-coverts pale brown, 
freckled with dark brown; the quills dusky, freckled 
with reddish brown; the tertials are freckled black, 
reddish brown and yellowish brown; the upper tail- 
coverts buff, freckled with two shades of brown; tail 
buff, spotted and freckled with brown; the thighs 
are buff, minutely freckled on the outside with 
* This absence of feathers on the back of the neck in 
both the Bittern and Little Bittern is probably owing to an 
odd habit these birds have of laying the neck flat on the 
back, letting the beak stick straight up. 
aI 
