34 GRALLATdRES. BOTAURUS. BITTERN. 



of the mouth proceeds a broad streak of black and 

 dark brown. The whole of the plumage is of a sienna- 

 yellow, or pale buff colour, rayed and varied with black 

 and reddish-brown. The sides of the neck are barred 

 transversely with dark brown ; the front with large lon- 

 gitudinal streaks of red-brown, intermixed with black- 

 ish-brown. The feathers of the breast are glossy black, 

 deeply margined with buff; those of the belly and ab- 

 domen are buff, with narrow longitudinal streaks of 

 brownish-black. The quills are brownish-black, barred 

 with reddish-brown. Tail short, reddish-brown, barred 

 with black. The bill is yellowish-green ; the culmen 

 darker ; the orbits and angles of the mouth yellow. 

 Legs and toes pale grass-green ; the claws (which are 

 very long, particularly that of the hind toe) of a pale 

 horn colour ; the middle one pectinated. The tibia is 

 clothed with feathers to within half an inch of the tar- 

 sal joint. 



AMERICAN BITTERN. 



BOTAURUS MOKOHO, Vieill. 



Ardea mokoho, Wagler, Syst. Av. part 1. sp. 29. 



Botaurus lentiginosus, Steph. Shaw's Zool. 11. 596. p. 46. 



Ardea lentiginosa, Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supp. 



Ardea stellaris, var. B. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 680. sp. 18. 



Freckled Heron, Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supp. 



Freckled Bittern, Shaw's Zool. 11. 596. PL 46. 



American Bittern, Wils. Orn. 8. 35. t. 65. f. 3. 



The Bittern from Hudson's Bay, Edwards, 3. p. t. 136. 



IN the supplement to MONTAGU'S Ornithological Diction- 

 Rare visi- arVj a bird is described under the title of the Freckled Heron 

 (Ardea leutiginosa) ; as the author was unable at that time 

 to refer it to any known species, though he suspected it 

 might be the female of some of the rarest European Herons. 

 Subsequent investigation has proved it to be identical with 



