27 



fera to this in Indiana Geological Keport, 1869, p. 229. I was very much sur- 

 prised in the winter of 1889-90 to have brought to me by my friend, Mr. Edw. 

 Hughes, the skull of a Wood Ibis, the name of which he desired to know. He 

 said it was the skull of a bird which had been killed about three miles south of 

 Brookville, and was preserved as a curiosity in the family of Mrs. St. John. At 

 my request he inquired the date and facts of its capture. He was informed that it 

 was one of a number which were seen along the river in the summer of 1855 or 

 1856. This was perhaps one of the same flock of which I have before spoken- 

 Mr. Ridgway has seen it in Knox and Gibson counties several times, and concern- 

 ing its occurrence there remarks : " The Wood Ibis occurs numerously every sum- 

 mer along the Wabash, and while it may not breed, I think that it does." 



Dr. F. Stein informs me that he saw a pair of Wood Ibises at " Little Chain," 

 about ten miles west of Mt. Vernon, about 1874-75. Mr. C. E. Newlin, of Kokomo, 

 informed me that there was a specimen in the possession of Dr. O. A. J. Morrison, 

 of Middle Fork, Ind. It was shot by a Mr. Harmon at "Maple Swamp," in 

 Carroll County, July 30, 1887. To Prof. Evermann, who has noted the occurrence 

 of this species in Indiana at some length ("The Auk," April, 1889, pp. 186-7), 

 I am indebted for some further notep. He is satisfied of the killing of a 

 specimen near Terre Haute several years ago. He says he saw a mounted 

 specimen in a store window in Mt. Vernon, and upon inquiry learned it was 

 shot about Oct. 30, 1887, from a flock of about thirty-five or forty, at Hovey's 

 Lake, Posey County. The same authority informs me of the occurrence of nine of 

 these birds at Mackey's Ferry, ten miles west of Mt. Vernon, Sept. 11, 1888. Mr. 

 Fletcher M. Noe informs me that in the collection of the late Dr. G. M. Le- 

 vette, which came into his possession, were some skulls of Wood Ibises labeled 

 "Indiana." 



SUBORDER IIERODII. HERONS; EGRETS; BITTERNS, ETC. 



FAMILY ARDEIDJS. HERONS; BITTERNS, ETC. 



SUBFAMILY BOTAUKIN^E. BITTERNS, 



GENUS BOTAURUS HKERMANN. 

 Subgenus BOTAURUS. 



Bill of Bittern, natural size. 



: 60- Botaurus lentiginosus (Montag.). AMERICAN BITTERN. 



Regular migrant ; tolerably common ; summer resident in suitable localities, 

 especially northward; in mild winters some may remain about the sloughs and 



