ARDEID^. 361 



principally consists of various shades of brown and 

 buff. The beak is brownish yellow, the upper man- 

 dible dark brown along the upper ridge and at the 

 point ; the lore green ; irides yellow ; the top of the 

 head very dark brown, almost black ; cheeks, ear- 

 coverts and a streak over the eye yellowish brown, 

 pencilled with dark brown ; there is a streak of dark 

 reddish brown under the eye; the chin is white, 

 tinged with yellow ; on the fore part of the neck are 

 long streaks of reddish brown on a yellowish white 

 ground ; belly and under parts the same ; the sides 

 of the neck streaked yellowish brown, dark brown 

 and black, the feathers are very long and almost 

 meet behind on the back part of the neck, on which 

 part there are no feathers, only a sort of yellowish 

 down ; * all the feathers of the back and scapulars 

 are black, margined with huffy yellow, the margins 

 freckled with black; the wing-coverts pale brown, 

 freckled with dark brown ; the quills dusky, freckled 

 with reddish brown ; the tertials are freckled black, 

 reddish brown and yellowish brown ; the upper tail- 

 coverts buff, freckled with two shades of brown ; tail 

 buff, spotted and freckled with brown; the thighs 

 are buff, minutely freckled on the outside with 



* This absence of feathers on the back of the neck in 

 both the Bittern and Little Bittern is probably owing to an 

 odd habit these birds have of laying the neck flat on the 

 back, letting the beak stick straight up. 



