THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 87 



near Bizoton, and Wetmore noted one near pools of water along the 

 Ravine Papaye, in the vicinity of Hinche, on April 20 and 23, 1927. 

 Bond found it near Port-au-Prince, and at Grand Lagon and Point- 

 a-Raquettes on Gonave Island. He secured a female in first fall 

 plumage on Gonave February 9, 1928. Danforth in 1927 saw it near 

 St. Marc, Les Salines, and Les Cayes. 



This heron in the main is an inhabitant of wooded swamps where 

 it is most active at night; during the day it perches in thick trees 

 where it is sheltered from the sun. Wetmore found one in the 

 Ravine Papaye where the only water was collected in scattered pools 

 as it was the dry season. Though by choice inactive during daylight 

 hours, this heron is alert and takes to flight when too closely ap- 

 proached. Its flight is strong and direct, performed with the neck 

 drawn in on the shoulders as is usual in herons. 



The yellow-crowned night heron in general is colored gray, with a 

 whitish wash on the abdomen, and blackish streaks on the dorsal 

 surface ; the crown, cheeks, and the slender, elongated plumes grow- 

 ing from the back of the head are white, the rest of the head and the 

 throat are black. The immature bird is rather like the young of the 

 black-crowned night heron but is marked by its heavier bill. The 

 bird is similar in size to the black-crowned night heron. 



[Subfamily Botaurinae] 



[BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSIS (Montagu) 



AMERICAN BITTERN 



Ardea lentiginosa Montagu, Suppl. Orn. Diet., 1813, text and plate (Piddle- 

 ton, Dorsetshire, England). 

 Botaurus minor, Tippenhaueb, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, p. 323 (listed). 



The only record is that of Tippenhauer who lists the species with- 

 out comment. 



The American bittern comes regularly to Cuba 27 and is found 

 occasionally in Porto Rico 28 so that it may be expected in Hispaniola 

 in winter. For the present it is held in the hypothetical list. 



The bittern above is brown, with the feathers bordered and mot- 

 tled with buff and buffy ochraceous; top of head and back of neck 

 bluish slate washed with buff ; below creamy buff, streaked with buffy 

 brown ; a black stripe on either side of upper neck. Young birds are 

 deeper buff than adults. The total length is about 710 mm. and the 

 wing about 265 mm.] 



" Barbour, Mem. Nuttall Ornith. Club, no. 4, 1923, p. 31. 



28 Wetmore, New York Acad. Sci., Scient. Surv. Port Rico, Virgin Islands, vol. 9, 1927, 

 pp. 302-303. 



