1"J0 



V KRTI-:r. RATA. 









THE COMMON BITTERN OP EtTROPE. 



Other American species are the American Great White Heron — A. leiice of De Kay, Ar- 

 dca cgrctta of Wilson, Auduhonia occidentaUs of Bonaparte — forty inches long; snowy white, fre- 

 quently with a tinge of yellow ; closely resembles the Great White Heron of Europe, and was 

 formerly supposed to be of the same species ; found from New Jersey south to the West Indies : 

 the White-crested Heron or Snowy Heron, A. candidissima — Garzetta candidissima of Bo- 

 naparte — twenty-two inches long; snowy white ; found on the coast of the Middle and Gulf 

 States,and across to California: the Blue Heron, ^.ccerz(/ca — i^^or /(/a ca.'TO7ra of Baird — twenty- 

 two inches long ; color slate-blue ; found from New Jersey south to the West Indies : the Lou- 

 isiana Heron, A. Ludoviciana — Demiegretta Ludoviciana of Baird — rare in the Middle and com- 

 mon in tlie Southern States : and the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, A. violacea — Nycthero- 

 dius violaccus of Baird — found in the Gulf States and South America. 



There are several smaller species of heron, usually called Bitterns, and ranged by some natu- 

 ralists under the generic name of Botaurus, of which the following are the principal. 



The Common Bittern of Europe, A. stellaris — Botauriis stellaris of Gould — is twenty-eight 

 to thirty inches long ; upper parts brownish-buff, irregularly marked with black and reddish- 

 brown spots ; under surface buff, with streaks of brown. It feeds at night on frogs, lizards, small 

 birds, and fishes ; during the day it usually conceals itself among flags, rushes, or other rank veg- 

 etation. It has a peculiar booming cry, which, in connection with its nocturnal habits and char- 

 acter, makes a gloomy impression on the mind. Goldsmith says : " Those who have walked in a 

 summer's evening by the sedgy sides of unfrequented rivers, must remember a variety of notes 

 from different water-fowl ; the loud scream of the wild goose, the croaking of the mallard, the 

 whining of the lapwing, and the tremulous neighing of the jack-snipe. But of all these sounds 

 there is none so dismally hollow as the booming of the Bittern. It is impossible for words to give 

 those who have not heard this evening call, an adequate idea of its solemnity. It is like the inter- 

 rupted bellowing of a bull, but hoUower and louder, and is heard at a mile's distance, as if issuing 



