154 BIRDS OF GUERNSEY. 



young birds ; but, at any age or in any state of 

 plumage, the birds may be immediately distin- 

 guished by the primary quill-feathers, which in the 

 American Bittern are a uniform dark chocolate- 

 brown without any marks whatever, while in the 

 Common Bittern they are much marked and 

 streaked with pale yellowish brown ; this may be 

 always relied on at any age or in any plumage. 



The American Bittern is not mentioned in Pro- 

 fessor Ansted's list, no specimen having been found 

 in the Channel Islands till after the publication of 

 his list, and of course there is no specimen in the 

 Museum. 



133. LITTLE BITTERN. Ardetta rninuta, Linnaeus. 

 French, "Heron Blongios."* I only know of one 

 occurrence of the Little Bittern in the Channel 

 Islands, and that was towards the end of November, 

 1876 ; and Mr. Couch writes to me as follows on 

 the 3rd of December : "A very good Little Bittern 

 was caught alive in the Vale Koad; after being 

 shot at and missed by two men, a young man in 

 the road threw his pocket-handkerchief at it and 

 brought it in to me alive." Mr. Couch also in- 

 formed me, when he forwarded me the specimen, 

 that it was a male by dissection. It is now in my 

 collection, and is a young bird of the year. I am 

 rather sorry that as Mr. Couch got it alive he did 



* See Teinmiuck, ' Man. d'Ornitliologie.' 



