HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS: Family Ardeidae [115] 



offspring hangs on grimly. Eventually a lump of food travels up the 

 parent's throat to be disgorged into the mouth of the baby, who allows 

 the parent's beak to slip through its own until the morsel falls into its 

 open mouth. Frequently the food falls to the nest, and a wild and clumsy 

 scramble to get the scattered lunch ensues, often resulting in a tug of war 

 as two of the nestlings try to grab the same frog leg or other dainty. 



When flushed, the bittern jumps from the grass with a startled squawk, 

 legs dangling loosely and wings flapping wildly; but when once safely 

 launched the flight is strong and steady. In the grass it is a master in 

 the art of concealment. Its brown and buff stripes blend well with the 

 sunlight and shadow in the grass, and the blending is often accentuated 

 by the action of the bird. It will draw itself fully erect until the extended 

 neck is little larger than a blade of the luxuriant swamp grass and, with 

 the bill pointing skyward, will stand motionless for many minutes until 

 the observer's neck begins to ache in sympathy with the "crick" he is 

 sure must be present in that of the bird. 



Western Least Bittern: 



Ixobrychus exilis hesperis Dickey and Van Rossem 



DESCRIPTION. "Size very small, sexes and young different. Adult male: back, 

 crown, rump, and tail greenish black; back of neck and patch on wing chestnut; 

 throat and under parts light buff, with two dusky spots on breast. Adult female. : 

 back mainly chestnut, and buff of under parts striped with dusky. Young: like 

 female, but brown feathers of back tipped with buff." (Bailey) Si%e: Male, wing 

 4.80-5.2.5, tail 1.67-1.81, exposed culmen 1.75-1.05, tarsus 1.55-1.70. Female, wing 

 4.50-5.10, tail 1.61-1.80, exposed culmen 1.70-1.97, tarsus 1.55-1.65. Nest: A 

 loosely woven platform of grass or reeds, attached to the swamp vegetation a few 

 inches to several feet above the water. Eggs: 4 to 7, usually 4 or 5, bluish white or 

 greenish white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern Oregon to central Lower California. 

 Winters from southern California southward. In Oregon: Summer resident and breed- 

 ing species of Harney, Klamath, and probably Lake Counties. 



THE BEAUTIFULLY marked Western Least Bittern, the smallest North 

 American member of the heron family, is perhaps more abundant in 

 Oregon than our rather scanty information would imply. Its small size 

 and secretive ways render it difficult to observe, and it might be present 

 in considerable numbers without being detected by a casual visitor. In 

 behavior and actions it is much like its larger cousin, the American 

 Bittern. 



Bendire (1877) reported that he had seen it twice at Malheur Lake, 

 and Willett (1919) found it a rather common breeder at the same lake, 

 building its nests (Plates 19, A and E) in the tall tules well out toward the 

 open water. Jewett saw two birds in Klamath Falls on November n, 

 1911, taken in and near Klamath Falls during the preceding summer, but 



