AMRKICAX BITTERN. 



Itotaiiiii.s lentiginosus. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Adult. —IMU ypllcixvish. dusky nn ridgre; bare space in front 

 of eyes grei.ni.-li-\^ lldw : l^ys aii.l feet greenish-yellow; eyes 

 yellow. LenKtli, :ili..iii iiMni>-s.x inches; extent, about forty- 

 five inches. C n- kjI ■■< In, wnish-yellow, top of head dull 



brown: uppei- |i:u Is liiiils H.mUI.mI and variegated with differ- 

 ent shades of brown, blackish and whitish; chin and throat 

 white with brown streak; a broad and glossy black stripe 

 about three inches long on upper part of neck. 



Ifa6f<a(.— Temperate North America, south to Guatemala 

 and the West Indies. 



This as well as other species aie very comiiiDiiI.v Iml 

 (■ri'oiicnnsly called Cranes. The Anierir;i]i liitimi is 

 kiiinvii lo iiimrods and fishermen in iii.in.v siciii.ns nl 



I III- Slali' ;is "Ci-reen-lefrsed Crane;" tlir ii;i f "In 



iliiin lli-n" is likewise aiijilied to Ihis bird us wfjl ;is 

 (lie Yellow billed Cuckoo. 



HAS A M)UD VOICR. 



This Bittern is a summer resident in renii.s.ylvani;i, 

 arriving earlj in April and remaining sometimes as 

 late as the early pai-t of November. Its notes are loud 

 and quite remarkable and under favorable circum- 

 (Stancea they may be lieai-d at a di.stanoe of at least 

 three quarters of a mile. These notes are of two kinds. 

 One known as the "pumping" call is described as fol- 

 lows: pumper-lunk, pump-er-lunk, pump-er-lunk, and 

 the other is so like the sound made by driving a staJ^e 

 in the mud, that it has given rise to one of the com- 

 mon names of this bird, namely "Stake-driver." 



\\'ith us tills species is seen singly or in pairs fre- 

 qiienling chiefly the thick swampy places about mead- 

 ows, rivers and lakes. 



