280 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



the waste has operated in a very marked degree against their 

 accustomed visits. Graham, in his " British Georgics," has well 

 expressed the change: 



" No more the heath fowl there her nestling brood 

 Fosters; no more the dreary plover plains; 

 And when, from frozen regions of the pole, 

 The wintry bittern to his wonted haunt, 

 On weary wing, returns, he finds the marsh 

 Into a joyless stubble ridge transformed, 

 And mounts again to seek some watery wild." 



THE AMERICAN BITTERN. 

 BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS. 



A SPECIMEN of this bird was shot in Dumfriesshire near the 

 residence of Sir William Jardine, Bart., in October, 1844. The 

 occurrence of this specimen is noticed in YarrelFs 'British Birds.' 



In addition to the subject of this notice, a second was obtained 

 in Aberdeenshire about ten years later, as I have been informed 

 by Mr Angus, to whom I am indebted for the following particulars. 

 It was shot by Colonel William Fraser in November, 1854, near 

 the toll-bar at the Bridge of Don, on the property of his cousin, 

 H. D. Forbes, Esq., of Balgownie. This gentleman, having often 

 shot the species during his residence in America, at once identified 

 it. The specimen, after being stuffed by Mr Mitchell, was presented 

 to the King's College Museum, but at the union of the universities 

 was afterwards removed to the Aberdeen University Museum, 

 where it now remains. Previous to being skinned, the bird was 

 examined by the late John Longmuir, Esq., whose excellent notes 

 Colonel Fraser has kindly permitted me to make use of here: 



" The American Bittern is easily distinguished from the other 

 two species which have occurred in this country by having the 

 upper parts of a chocolate brown, with brown and grey variegations 

 and a purplish gloss the under parts of a more yellow hue, with 

 various chestnut and brown streaks on the neck, breast, and belly. 

 The length varies from twenty-three to twenty-seven inches 

 Colonel Eraser's specimen being somewhat more than twenty-four 

 inches. The bird obtained here was a female, and remains of 

 small fishes were found in its stomach. It is found in various parts 

 of North America, extending from a high latitude to the Southern 



