13U* .'51KD.S OP ILLINOIS. 



Length, about 24.0U-28.00; expanse, 37.00-45.00; weight aboutl!4 lbs. (Audubon): wing, 9.ai- 

 12.00; tail. 3.10-4.40; culmen.2.50-3.20;depth of bill .50-65; tarsus, 3.10-3.85 ; middle toe, 2.90-3.60; 

 bare portion of tibia, 1.00-1.35.' 



Subgenus Ardetta Gray. 



ArdeoU Bonap. Synopsis. 1828 (teste Gray, Gen. •& Subg. 1855. 113). Type, A rdea exilis 



Gmel. (Not of Bole, 1822!) 

 Ardetta Grat, List of Genera, App. 18)2. 1.1. Type, Ardea minuta Linn. 

 Erodiscii.i Glogeb. Handb. i, 1842, 410. Same type. 

 "Ardeiralla" {1S&5) YEBBEi.vs. (teste Hartl, Orn. Westafr. p. 224). Type. Ardea sturmi 



Wagl. 



SuBGEN Chae. Extremely small (the smallest of) herons, or miniature bitterns; dif- 

 fering from the true bitterns chiefly in their diminutive size, and in the fact that the sexes 

 differ in color.'' 



Although only two species of Ardetta are known to occur in 

 North America (with one additional species in vSouth America), 

 there are various species in other parts of the world. 



The two North American species differ as follows: 



a^. Primaries tipped with einuamon-rufous or pale cinnamon; adults with a distinct nar- 

 row stripe of buff along each side of back S. exilis. 



a'-'. Primaries without rufotis or cinnamon tips; adults without trace of lighter stripe 



along sides of back B. neoxenus.^ 



This species, which was originally discovered in southern Florida, has also been taken 



in Ontario, Canada, and may possibly occur In Illinois. It is very different in color from 



B. exilis, the prevailing colors being black and rich chestnut. 



Botaurus exilis (Gmel.) 



LEAST BITTEEN. 

 Popular synonyms. American Least Bittern; Tortoise-shell Bird, or Tortoise-shell Bittern 



(Jamaica) ; Little Yellow Bittern; Ardeola and Peseadora (Mexico). 

 Littte iii«eni. Penn. Arct. Zool. ii. 1785, 453. No. 359 (part). 

 Minute Bittern Lath. Synop. iii, 1785, 66 (Jamaica); = female ad.). 

 Ardea exilis: Gmel. S. N. i, lit. ii. 1788. 645. No. S3 (based on the Minute Bittern of Lath. 



t. c.).— Wu.s. Am. Orn. viii. ISM. 37, pi. 65. flg. 4.— Nutt. Man. 11, 1834, 66.— AuD. 



Orn. Biog. iii, 1835, 77; v, 1839, 606, p). 210: Synop. 1889, 263; Birds Am. vi, 1813, 100, pi. 



366. 

 Ardetta exilis Gundl. J. f. O. 1856,345.— Baird. B. N. Am. 1858, 673; Cat. N. Am. B. 



1859. No. 491.— ElDGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No, 498.— CouBS. Check List 2d ed. 



1882. No. 667. 

 Botaurus exilis Reichen. J. f. 0. 187?, 244.— A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No, 134.- Eidgw . 



Man. 1887, 127. 

 ?.l)v/<n spadicea Gmel. t. c. 641 (Reichenow). 



' From measurements of twenty-flve adult specimens. 



■ Wo can find no other difference In form or proportion between Botaurus Hud Ardetta. 

 In the sexed specimens of ^. meo/HCi'iS which we have been able to examine there is no 

 Boxua! difference of plumage. The sex of the single supposed female, however, may have 

 been incorrectly determined. 



• Ardetta tieoxena Gobi, Auk, iii, Apr. 1886, •X\i,—Botaurui neoxeuus Ridgw. Man. N. 

 Am. B. 1887, 127. 



