THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 91 



the possession of Lord Lilford. Mr. G. F. Mathew 

 records an adult male shot on the river Taw, May 

 14tli, 1869 ; Mr. Howard Saunders says that from 

 information supplied to him by the Rev. M. A. 

 Mathew, it seems probable that a brood was actually 

 hatched out that year near New Bridge on the Taw. 

 Mr. H. NichoUs records a young bird, in the spotted 

 plumage; flushed from a bed of reeds in the vicinity 

 of the Avon, January 7th, 1876, adding : " Some 

 twelve years since, in October, I procured a similar 

 specimen, except that some of the down was quite 

 visible at the tips of the feathers, from the same 

 locality, and a full dressed male a few years ago " 

 (Zool. 1876. p. 4844). 



BITTEUN.—Botaufus stellaris (Linn). 



A WINTER visitant, met with annually at Slapton 

 Ley, and of pretty frequent occurrence in the South 

 of the County. In the North of Devon, it is 

 rather more rarely met with . Writing to the Zoologist 

 of 1856, Mr. D'Urban states: " The Bittern, unlike 

 many other species once common in Devonshire has 

 become of late years from a rare bird a regular 

 winter visitor to this county :'' After enumerating 

 ten recent occurrences (one of the number referring 

 to a Bittern shot by himself on the Exe), Mr. 

 D'Urban proceeds ; " They appear to be met with 

 either during or after the prevalence of high 

 easterly winds and cold weather, and are 

 usually not at all shy, allowing of close approach 



