BITTERNS. 299 



unless disturbed, rouse themselves from their slumbers in the daytime ; but when 

 the young are hatched, the parents are compelled to go abroad in search of food 

 during the daylight hours. Perching with its neck resting on its shoulders, the 

 night-heron when disturbed from its slumbers flies but a short distance, and again 

 settles. When on the wing, the head is drawn in between the shoulders, and the 

 legs stretched out behind ; the flight being slow and flapping, and the course of the 

 bird indicated in the darkness by the utterance from time to time of a characteristic 

 hoarse croak. In Europe the breeding-season lasts from May to July ; the nests 

 being generally placed in bushes or low trees near swamps, but at other times in 

 groves which may be also tenanted by other members of the order, and rarely 

 among reeds. Large numbers of birds associate in these breeding-places; and 

 when the young are hatched, the noise made by the birds as darkness comes on is 

 described as deafening. The nests in some places are made of rice-straw, and are 

 remarkable for their size and solid structure ; and the pale greenish blue eggs vary 

 from three to five in number. The food of these birds comprises aquatic insects, 

 worms, molluscs, frogs, and small fish. 



Omitting mention of some important genera, brief reference must 



be made to the little bittern (Ardella minuta), as the representative 

 of a small genus in some respects connecting the night-herons with the true 

 bitterns. These birds are much smaller than the night-heron, measuring only 13 

 inches in length, while agreeing with the foregoing genera in having the second 

 quill of the wing the longest (although but slightly so), and the third toe shorter 

 than the metatarsus ; they differ in having only ten short feathers in the tail, in 

 the tibia being feathered nearly to the ankle, and in the greater length of the toes. 

 The legs are rather short ; and the straight, slender, pointed beak is slightly longer 

 than the head. In the male the plumage of the crown of the head, nape, back, 

 and shoulders, as well as the primaries and tail-feathers, are shining greenish black : 

 and the wing-coverts and under-parts tawny buff', marked on the breast and flanks 

 with black. The beak, lore, and iris are yellow ; and the legs and feet greenish 

 yellow. The smallest member of the heron tribe found in Britain, where it is an 

 occasional visitor, the little bittern ranges over Southern Europe to Northern 

 Africa, and extends eastwards to Kashmir and North- Western India. Migrating 

 to South Africa, it is represented there by a distinct resident species; while in 

 America its place is taken by a smaller form. 



Before the drainage of the fens and the general advance of 



cultivation, the boom of the bittern was a familiar sound in many 

 parts of England, but the bird is now only a somewhat rare visitor, although 

 a nest was taken as late as the year 1868. The common bittern (Botaurus 

 xtellaris) belongs to a genus easily characterised by the great length of the 

 toes, of which the third is as long as the metatarsus, by the three first quills 

 being of nearly equal length and the longest in the wing, and by the short 

 tail comprising ten soft feathers. The strong beak is rather longer than 

 the head, somewhat higher than broad, and with the extremity of its upper 

 mandible slightly curved downwards; the longitudinal slit-like nostrils being 

 partially covered by a bare membrane. The legs are of medium length, 

 feathered nearly down to the ankle, and with large scutes on the front of the 



