264 



GRALL^E. ARDEAD^E. 



procured in Sweden, Barbary, South Africa, Si- 

 beria, Bengal, and Japan, do not appreciably 

 differ from each other. 



The Bittern is a voracious feeder : small mam- 

 malia, birds, and fishes, alternate with frogs, 

 newts, slugs, and insects, to satisfy his appetite ; 

 and the former are not always of the smallest. 



COMMON BITTERN. 



Sir William Jardine has found a Water Rail whole 

 in the stomach of one ; and from that of another, 

 Mr. Yarrell has taken the bones of a pike of con- 

 siderable size ; and in a third instance a Water Rail 

 whole, and six small fishes. In Graves's " Bri- 

 tish Birds/' it is stated that in one dissected in 

 1811, the intestines were distended with the re- 

 mains of four eels, several newts, a short-tailed 

 field-mouse, three frogs, two buds of the water-lily, 



