128 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



When approached they stiffen up and remain perfectly still, 

 being almost exactly like one of the reeds in general appear- 

 ance, and with their neck stiffs and erect. They do not flush 

 until approached very near and then with a " squawk " arise 

 and fly off* neck stretched out and feet to the rear. The incu- 

 bation period as nearly as I have been able to find out is 

 practically twenty-one days. The food consists of frogs, sala- 

 manders, small fish and water insects. 



x; 



Genus ARDETTA Gray. 



191. Ardetta exilis (Gmel.). Least Bittern. 



Plumage of adult male : top of head, back, tail and blotch at each side of 

 breast black ; central wing coverts buffy with'area of rufous around the buff ; 

 back of neck cinnamon rufous ; under parts buff to buff whitish. Plumage of 

 immature male : differs chiefly in that the under parts are darker colored and 

 streaked with black. Plumage of adult female : the under parts are 

 streaked with brownish, and the head brownish instead of black ; back light 

 umber. Plumage of immature females : differs from adult females in being 

 rufous on the back, the feathers margined with buff. Wing 4.25 to 5.00 ; 

 culmen 1.75 ; tarsus 1.60. 



Geog. Dist. — Temperate North America from the British Provinces to the 

 West Indies and Brazil ; winters from Florida southward. 



County Records. — Androscoggin ; rare summer resident, (Johnson). Cum- 

 berland; found breeding at Falmouth in 1863, (Smith, F. & S. 20, p. 105) ; 

 I received five taken near Portland in 1902, (Lord). Knox; rare migrant, 

 (Rackliff). Sagadahoc ; rare, two specimens, (Spinney). Washington ; rare, 

 (Boardman). York; Dr. Willis has stuffed specimens shot in Eliot, (W. L. 

 Fernald). 



This little Heron is found regularly in Maine only within 

 the limits of the Alleghanian fauna, occasionally straggling 

 within the Canadian limits. It is not common anywhere in 

 the State, but occurs where found from late May until into 

 August at least. Three to six pale bluish white eggs are laid 

 in a nest which is a mere platform of twigs, grasses, plant 

 stems and similar materials placed among rushes or in a small 

 bush. Such a nest was found in a small willow tree nine inches 

 above the water in a swamp near Omaha, Nebraska, June 27, 



