BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 55 





SUBFAMILY BOTAURIN-ffi. BITTERNS. 

 GENUS BOTAURUS HERMANN. 

 Botaurus lentiginosus (MONTAG.). 



American Bittern ; Indian Hen. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 5) . 



Adult. Bill yellowish, dusky on ridge, lores greenish yellow ; legs and feet yel- 

 lowish-green ; iris yellow. Length, about 26 inches ; extent, about 45 inches. Gen- 

 eral color brownish-yellow, top of head dull brown, upper parts finely freckled and 

 variegated with different shades of brown, blackish and whitish ; chin and throat 

 white with brown streak ; a broad and glossy-black stripe about three inches long 

 on upper part of neck. 



Habitat. Temperate North America, south to Guatemala and the West Indies. 



The Bittern or " Green-legged Crane," as this wader is called by many 

 sportsmen, is readily distinguished from other birds of the family by its 

 brownish-yellow plumage, greenish-colored legs, and large size. It is a 

 summer resident in Pennsylvania, where it arrives generally early in 

 April and remains until about the first week in November. Although 

 these birds breed, occasionally at least, in different parts of the state, 

 they are much more frequently met with (singly or in pairs) when mi- 

 grating in the spring and fall, than in summer. In this locality these 

 birds are never found in flocks ; commonly only solitary individuals are 

 seen frequenting chiefly the thick swampy districts about meadows and 

 rivers. During the daylight Bitterns conceal themselves in the long 

 grasses, weeds, bushes, etc., growing about swamps. They migrate and 

 feed during the night. 



Mr. George B. Sennett, Erie, Pa., says, he is quite certain this species 

 breeds occasionally on the peninsula, near Erie city ; also at Conneaut 

 Lake, Lake Pleasant and Oil Creek Lake, in Crawford county. Mr. W. 

 H. Buller, residing at Marietta, Lancaster county, Pa., in a letter dated 

 July 29, 1889, addressed to me, writes as follows : " I am inclined to 

 believe that the American Bittern breeds in the vicinity of Schock's 

 Mills, a few miles west of Marietta. While I have never found its nest 

 or seen its young, yet I have so frequently seen the bird in that vicinity 

 during the summer that I think it probable that it breeds in the swamps 

 there." Dr. George B. Boss, of Lebanon, Pa., states that it breeds in 

 Lebanon county. In Perry county, Mr. H. Justin Boddy, Millersville, 

 Pa., has observed it as a " rare breeder." Mr. J. F. Kocher, of South 

 Whitehall, Pa., says the Bittern is occasionally found breeding in Le- 

 high county, and Dr. Walter Van Fleet of Benovo, Pa., mentions it as 

 breeding occasionally and sparingly in Clinton county. 



The nest of this bird is placed on the ground ; the eggs, three to five 

 in number three is said to be the usual number are described as 

 brownish-drab, unspotted, measuring about 2 inches long by about If 

 inches broad. 



