124 ARDEINJE. BOTAURUS. 



Bittern. Mire-drum. Bumpy Coss, Bitter-bump, 

 bumper. Bumble. 



Ardea stellaris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 239. Ardea stellaris, 

 Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 680. Ardea stellaris, Temm. Man. 

 d'Orm'th. ii. 580. Botaurus stellaris, European Bittern, 

 MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



217. BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS. FRECKLED BITTERN. 



Length about twenty-six inches; one inch of the tibia 

 bare. Adult with the upper part of the head greyish-brown ; 

 a light yellowish streak over the eye, a dusky streak from be- 

 hind it ; a broad band of brownish-yellow from the cheek to 

 the nape, and beneath it an oblique band of black ; the upper 

 parts of the body variegated with yellowish-brown, dark- 

 brown, and reddish, the margins of the feathers closely un- 

 dulated and transversely barred ; the throat white, with brown 

 markings ; the fore part of the neck, and the lower parts of 

 the body pale yellowish, with numerous elongated streaks of 

 reddish-brown, dotted and edged with darker. Young simi- 

 lar, but with the colours darker. 



Male, 26, 45, 12 J, 3 T ^, 3}, 3&, JJ. 



This Bittern, which is common in North America, occurs 

 in Europe only as a very rare straggler. Montagu described 

 the only one hitherto certainly found in England. It was 

 shot in the parish of Piddletown, in Dorsetshire, in the 

 autumn of 1804. 



Freckled Heron. American Bittern. 



Ardea lentiginosa, Mont. Ornith. Diet. Supper. Ardea 

 mokoho, Wagler, Syst. av. Ardea minor, Wilson, Amer. 

 Ornith. viii. 35. Ardea lentiginosa, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. 

 iv. 381. Ardea lentiginosa, Freckled Bittern, MacGillivray, 

 Brit. Birds, iv. 



218. BOTAURUS MINUTUS. LITTLE BITTERN. 



Length about fourteen inches ; tibia entirely feathered. 

 Male with the upper part of the head, the back, scapulars, 

 and tail, glossy greenish-black ; the sides of the head, the 

 neck, lower parts, and smaller wing-coverts light reddish- 

 yellow. Female similar, but with the tints less deep. Young 

 with the upper part of the head dark brown, the feathers of 

 the back dark brown, edged with yellow, the fore-neck yel- 

 lowish-white, streaked with dusky ; the sides of the head, 



