7 
throws itself on its back and fights like a hawk, 
with its beak and claws. There are two or three 
recorded instances of its having bred in England. 
The nest, which is composed of sticks, rushes, &c., 
is placed on the ground among the thick coarse 
herbage near the water. The eggs, four or five 
in number and two and a quarter inches in length, 
are of a uniform greenish white colour and similar 
in shape at both ends. 
BIDVPTERN, (LIT Tit. 
ARDEA miInvTA, Lin. 
This bird, which is considerably less than either 
of the. preceding examples of the same species, 
measures about fourteen inches in length, the body 
being about the size of that of a Blackbird. It 
dwells in marshes, by the side of rivers, in planta- 
tions of osiers, and in other moist situations where 
reeds and aquatic rank herbage grow. In this 
country the specimens have generally been obtained 
during the summer months, which has induced the 
belief that they breed here, but there is no recorded 
instance of the discovery of a Little Bittern’s nest 
in England. It is a native of the southern parts 
of Europe and Asia, and is found at Madeira, and 
as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. It breeds 
in Holland. The nest, which is formed upon the 
ground, is composed of flag leaves and bits of grass 
