3 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS 



and Norfolk ; and in the latter it is said to have bred so recently as the year 

 1834, while in Herts there is a record of its nesting in 1855. The very rapid 

 advance of the plough during the past three quarters of a century, has finally 

 extinguished, or largely curtailed, many of the fens and marshes beloved of the 

 bird, with the result that it has taken its departure to less cultivated regions, and 

 visits us now only at irregular intervals in winter and spring ; yet it is seen in some 

 part of the country almost every year. It has visited nearly every district of the three 

 kingdoms, though in Ireland it is now a rare straggler. We so thoroughly agree with 

 the following remarks by Mr. W. H. Hudson, that we quote them here in the hope 

 that they may meet the eye of, and be duly taken to heart by, those whom they most 

 concern. " It is, however, a noteworthy fact that, whereas other species that have 

 been driven out, such as the Great Bustard, Spoonbill, Avocet, Black Tern, and several 

 more, appear now as only rare occasional visitors in our country, the Bittern comes 

 back to us annually, as if ever seeking to recover its lost footing in our island. And 

 that he would recover it, and breed again in suitable places as in former times, is 

 not to be doubted, if only the human inhabitants would allow it ; but unhappily, 

 this bird, like the Ruff, Hoopoe, and Kingfisher, when stuffed and in a glass case, 

 is looked upon as an attractive ornament by persons of a low order of intelligence 

 and vulgar tastes." 



Outside the British islands, the Bittern inhabits Europe and northern Asia, 

 or what is known as the Palaearctic Region of Wallace, south of the 68th degree of N. 

 latitude, thence extending into India, China, and north-eastern Africa in winter. 

 In many parts of Europe, however, where it was once very common and nested, 

 it has now become a rare visitor, from the same causes that have driven it from 

 England. 



In the Bitterns the neck is shorter and thicker than among the Herons, the 

 middle toe and the claw are both very long, and together are far longer than the 

 next higher segment of the limb. On the occiput there is an erectile crest, and on 

 the neck a very large ruff of erectile feathers ; but no dorsal plumes as in the Heron. 

 Unlike what is seen in the female of the Little Bittern, the plumage of the adult 

 female of the true Bittern does not differ from that of the adult male. In the fully 

 mature Bittern, at all ages and all seasons, the upper surface is of a general 

 ochreous colour, or yellow buff, each feather irregularly venniculated and barred 

 with brown and black, and with a centre streak of brownish black. The crown 

 and nape dark brown ; the back and scapulars black, margined with yellowish 

 ochre ; lower back, down to the tail, tawny buff, mottled and barred with black ; 

 wing feathers reddish brown, barred with black, but the coverts slate grey, also 

 barred and mottled with dark brown. The eyebrows, sides of face, and sides of the 



