BITTERN. ORALLATORES. BOTAURUS. 35 



the American Bittern described by WILSON in his admira- 

 ble work on the Birds of North America, and the Hudson's 

 Bay Bittern figured by EDWARDS, and referred to by 

 LATHAM as a variety of Ardea (Botaurus) stdlaris. This 

 specimen, which was shot in the parish of Piddleton in Dor- 

 setshire, in the autumn of 1804, passed into MONTAGU'S pos- 

 session, and is now, with the rest of his collection, deposited 

 in the British Museum. No subsequent instance has occurred 

 of its capture in England. The habits and manners of this 

 species, according to WILSON *, are similar to those of the 

 Common Bittern, which, in figure, size, and colour, it nearly 

 resembles. It inhabits marshes, the banks of lakes, rivers, 

 Sec. where it remains at rest during the day, concealed in the 

 thick reeds, &c. ; as it is, like the rest of this group, a noc- 

 turnal feeder, and only roused into activity by the departure 

 of daylight. When surprised, or driven from its retreat, it 

 emits like the Bittern a sound something like the tap on a 

 drum, a fact observed by Mr CUNNINGHAM, the gentleman 

 who shot the individual above mentioned. It is common in 

 North America, extending from the Carolinas as far as Hud- 

 son's Bay, where it arrives in May as a summer visitant. It 

 breeds in the marshes among the reeds and swampy herbage, Nest, &c. 

 and the eggs are stated to be of a pale bluish-green colour. 



For a minute description of the plumage of this bird, I 

 must refer my readers to MONTAGU'S work. 



* See WILSON'S North American Ornithology, article American Bittern. 



