60 BIRD GALLERY. 



and their buff-striped breast turned towards the spectator. In this 

 position they so closely resemble the surrounding reeds that they easily 

 escape detection. The visitor's attention is directed to the Little 

 Bittern {Ar delta minuta) (622) [Plate XIV.], which has been mounted 

 to illustrate this marvellous instinct of self-preservation. Owing to 

 the draining of the extensive reed-swamps and constant persecution 

 the Common Bittern (B. stellaris) (615) ceased to breed in this 

 country, though it continued as a winter-visitor in small numbers. 

 Now, thanks to protection, a few pairs nest annually in East Anglia, 

 and its booming cry is again to be heard across the fens. The 

 American Bittern {Botaurus lentiginosus) (613) is an occasional visitor 

 to our shores. 



Passing by the handsome Asiatic Bitterns {Dupetor) (617), the Buff- 

 backed Heron [Bubulcus lucidus) (621), and the Squacco Heron {Ardeola 

 ralloides) (628), we come to the Tiger- Bitterns (626-628), very hand- 

 some birds represented by several genera, and the Green Herons 

 {Butorides) (832-634), which form a connecting link between the 

 Bitterns and Herons. 



A very remarkable type with wide, shoe-shaped bill will be found in 

 the Central American Boatbill {Cancroma) (628), a bird of nocturnal 

 [Case 34.] habits. On the floor of the next Case several species of the nearly 

 allied Night-Herons {Nycticorax) (637-638) are exhibited, of which the 

 chestnut-backed species are the most handsome, and the common grey 

 species (A^. nycticorax) (638) is an almost annual visitor to our shores. 

 The Reef-Herons {Demiegretta) (645) are noteworthy as possessing 

 two phases of plumage — a white form and a grey one. The same 

 phenomenon is exhibited in the Blue Heron [Florida carulea) (647) 

 and in the Reddish 'Egret {Dlchromanassa rufa) (648), where one form 

 of the species is white and the other rufous. One of the most graceful 

 and elegant species is the Great White Heron [Herodias alba) (648) ^ 

 which ranges over a large part of the Old World. As already stated, it 

 is from Herons and Egrets [Plate XIII.] in their nuptial plumage that 

 the ornamental plumes known as " ospreys " are procured. 



Passing by the handsome Purple Heron [Phoyx purpurea) (658), we 

 may specially draw attention to the Great Heron {Ardea goliath) (851), 

 which, as its name implies, is the giant of the group ; and, most familiar 

 of all, the Common Heron [A. cinerea) (652). Heronries, as the 

 colonies of nests are called, are found in many parts of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. After the breeding-season is over, the majority of the birds 

 disperse over the country. Many go down to the coasts and remain 

 away during the autumn and winter, only returning in spring, but, if 

 the season is a mild one, they begin to lay in the beginning of March 

 or even earlier. Their appetite is insatiable, and they destroy large 

 numbers of 6sh, frogs, young water-fowl, and even water-rats. 



