throws itself on its back and fights like a hawk, 

 with its beak and claws. There are two or three 

 recorded instances of its having bred in England. 

 The nest, which is composed of sticks, rushes, &c., 

 is placed on the ground among the thick coarse 

 herbage near the water. The eggs, four or five 

 in number and two and a quarter inches in length, 

 are of a uniform greenish white colour and similar 

 in shape at both ends. 



BITTEEN, 'LITTLE. 



ARDEA. MINTJTA, Lin. 



The Little Bittern, which is considerably less 

 than either of the preceding examples of the same 

 species, measures about fourteen inches in length, 

 the body being about the size of that of a Black- 

 bird. It dwells in marshes, by the side of rivers, 

 in plantations of osiers, and in other moist situa- 

 tions where reeds and aquatic rank herbage grow. 

 In this country the specimens have generally been 

 obtained during the summer months, which has 

 induced the belief that they breed here, but there 

 is no recorded instance of the discovery of a Little 

 Bittern's nest in England, It is a native of the 

 southern parts of Europe and Asia, and is found at 

 Madeira, and as far south as the Cape of Good 

 Hope. It breeds in Holland. The nest, which is 

 formed upon the ground, is composed of fln 



