BOTAVRl'S Mh\OIi. 



157 



GENUS III. BOTAUEUS. THE BITTERNS. 



Gen. Ch. Bill, not long, but sharply pointed. Tail feathers, ten or twelve, soft. Lower neck, destitute of feathers be- 

 hind. Tarsus, short, and toes, long. Plumes, absent. 



Members of this genus are rather dull in color, usually with the feathers of the lower neck elongated in front. The 

 eyes are small, but the birds are more or less nocturnal in habit. There L-; but one .species within our limits. 



BOTAURTJS MINOR. 



American Bittern. 



Botaurus minor BoiE, IsLs; I8'2G, 979. 



OESCRII'TION. 



Sp. Cu. Form, robust. Size, medium. Tongue, very long, slender, and narrowing gradually to tip which is acutely 

 pointed. 



Color. Adult. Ab'iTe, dark-brown, spotted and sprinkled with yellowish and reddish. Sidesof head and under sur- 

 face, pale yellow, lightest on throat, broadly streaked with ycUowish-rufous and dusky. Triangular patch on the .sides of 

 neck, black. Iris, yellow. Naked space in front of eye, legs, and bill, greenish. Line from eye and top of bill, brown. 



Youny. Similar to the adult, but is much paler througliout and the bl.ock patch on the neck is nearly obsolete while 

 the bill is dusky. 



OBSERVATIONS. 

 Readily known by the mixed yellowish and rufous colors as described. Distributed, in summer, from Canada south- 

 ward; wintering in the South. 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 28'50, stretch, 43-2-2; wing, 11 -5(1; tail, 

 3'50; bill, 3 10; tarsus, 3-75. Longest specimen, 34'00; greatest extent of wing, 50'37; longest wing, 13 50, tail, 400; bill, 

 350; tarsus, 3'95. Shortest specimen, 23'-50; smallest extent of wing, 37-10; shortest wing, 9'50; tail, 300; bill, 2'50; tar- 

 sus, 3-25. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Nests, placed on the ground in marshy places, composed of sticks, loosely arranged, and grass. Kyi/s, three to six 

 in numl)cr, elliptical inform, and varying from greenish-ash to brown in color, unspotted. Dimensions from I •05x2 1(1 to 

 1-80 X 2-25. 



HABITS. 



The peculiar punc-a-pog of the Bittern has been a familiar sound to me from child- 

 hood, as a pair used to nest every season in a marshy place, not far from the house, and 

 their singular cries could be heard every evening. The notes which may be; expressed by 

 the syllables given above, are emitted in a peculiar tone, just as though the bird were un- 

 der water, or that it struck its wings upon the surfece. This sound is oftencr uttered about 

 sunset or during the night than at any other time, but in the breeding season, it may be 

 heard at all times of the day. The birds are very solitary in habit and frequent those wet, 

 boggy meadows, where it is almost impossible to walk without sinking into the soft ooze, 

 but they will occasionally emerge from these retreats and alight upon the overhanging 

 branches of some neighboring thicket; then if disturbed, will rise with a harsh crotsk, fly a 

 short distance, and plunge into the morass. If pursued at such times, they are exceed- 

 ingly difficult to start, for they will either skulk through the grass, or hide beneath the 

 surface of the water, leaving only the bill exposed. 



In Lake Umbagog, Maine, are small islands, upon some of which trees, thirty feet 

 high, are growing, and they are all co\ered with a luxuriant growth of shrubbery and grass; 

 in short, to all appearances, these islets arc solid land, yet they h;ivo no fi-.m connection 

 with the bottom of the water, V)ut Jire simply stranded, and during gal.s which occur at 

 high water, are driven from phice to place at the sport of the wind. The larger of these 

 floating i.slands which often contain nearly half an acre of land, are so buoyant that one 



