8o OUR MIGRANT BIRDS 



chin white ; upper parts brown, mottled with black ; 

 primaries and secondaries nearly black, with white 

 shafts and bases forming conspicuous white bars in 

 flight ; rump white. Tail-feathers white, broadly 

 banded with black ; under parts white, barred with 

 dusky brown. Bill nearly straight, and longer than in 

 Bar-tailed Godwit. Legs and feet blackish. Length 

 i6in. Female larger and duller. In winter, ash-brown 

 above, and greyer ash below. Young, almost similar 

 to adults in winter plmnage. 



Language. — Not very loquacious. Its note is a loud 

 " tritte-tue." 



Habits. — Resembles the Sandpipers'. 



Food. — Aquatic insects, worms, Crustacea, etc. 



Nidification. — Breeds in Europe. 



COMMON BITTERN {Botaurus stellarus). 



Or, more properly. Bittern, since it is now extinct as a 

 breeding species, though it annually visits this country 

 in winter, and might, possibly, again breed if it were 

 allowed. 



Haunts. — Marshes, swamps, and fen-districts. 



Plumage. — Crown and nape black, chin bufhsh white, 

 otherwise generally buff, barred above and streaked 

 below with black. Feathers of neck long, erectile, and 

 forming a ruff. Bill greenish yellow. Legs green. 

 Length 30 in. Female similar, but slightly smaller. 



Language. — A curious booming, somewhat like the 

 bellowing of a bull. It also has a harsh scream. 



Habits. — Very nocturnal, spending the day-time in 

 dense reed-beds, with which the colouring of the plumage 

 harmonizes. On the wing it is rather like the Heron. 

 Very shy and solitary. It seeks its food by night. 



