222 HERONS AND BITTERNS 



with equally strange contortions, as if the bird were horribly nauseated, 

 and are preceded by a succession of quick snapping or gulping sounds 

 "hiccoughs," one observer has called them. No water is employed 

 in the operation, in spite of the circumstantial assertions of several 

 persons who profess to have seen the bird swallowing and then 

 ejecting it. BRADFORD TORREY. 



BREWSTER, WM., Auk, 1911 90-100 (display of plumes). 



191. Ixpbrychus exilis (Gmei.). LEAST BITTERN. Ad. cf. Top of head, 

 back and tail shining black; back of neck chestnut-rufous; most of the greater 

 wing-coverts and outer vanes of the secondaries darker; lesser wing-coverts 

 and part of greater ones buffy; underparts, including under tail-coverts, 

 washed with buffy; a blackish patch at each side of the breast. Ad. 9. 

 Similar, but head browner and back light, glossy umber; underparts darker 

 and more or less streaked with brownish. Im. & . Similar to ad. d" , but the 

 back washed and tipped with chestnut; underparts darker and lightly 

 streaked with black. Im. 9 . Similar to ad. 9 , but the back rufous, mar- 

 gined with buffy ochraceous. L., 13'00; W., 4'60; Tar., 1*60; B., 1'80. 



Range. Temperate N. A., and n. S. A. Breeds from s. Ore., s. Sask. 

 s. Man., s. Que., and N. S. s. to the West Indies and Brazil; winters 

 from Fla. and Gulf of Mex., southward. 



Washington, not very numerous S. R., May 5-Sept. 25. Long Island, 

 common S. R., May-Sept. Ossining, tolerably common S. R., to Aug. 10. 

 Cambridge, local S. R., May 15-Aug. 1. N. Ohio, not common S. R., Apl. 

 20-Sept. 20. Glen Ellyn, local S. R., late spring and summer records only. 

 SE. Minn., common S. R. 



Nest, a platform of grasses, reeds, etc., in marshes among rushes, some- 

 times in a small bush, usually over water. Eggs, 3-6, pale bluish white, 

 1*20 x ;92. Date, Ft. Thompson, Fla., Mch. 25; Mt. Pleasant, S. C., May 1; 

 Cambridge, June 1; Pewaukee, Wise., May 27. 



Wet, grassy marshes such as Rail love, or reed-grown ponds that 

 Gallinules frequent, are the resorts of these retiring, secretive little 

 birds. With outstretched necks and lowered heads they make their 

 way without difficulty through the jungle of roots and stalks. Some- 

 times they climb up a slender reed, and, hanging on like Marsh Wrens, 

 survey theis surroundings. They take wing almost from beneath one's 

 feet, and, with a low, frightened qua, fly slowly for a short distance and 

 then drop back into the grass. During the breeding season one may 

 hear what presumably is the voice of only the male a soft, slowly 

 repeated, dovelike coo, coo, coo, coo, coo. It floats over the marsh like 

 the voice of a spirit bird. 



1900. CHAPMAN, F. M., Bird Studies with a Camera, 62-75 (nesting). 



191.1. Ixobrychus neoxenus (Cory). CORY'S LEAST BITTERN. Ad. 

 j.-^ Above shining greenish black, tail the same ; wings black, their coverts 

 rich chestnut; underparts chestnut, sides black. Ad. 9. Similar but black 

 area duller, chestnut areas slightly paler. W., 4*30; Tar., 1*40; B., 1.80. (See 

 Chapman, Auk, 1896, 11-19.) 



Range. Imperfectly known. Breeds in s. Ont. and s. Fla.; occurs 

 casually in Mass., Mich., and Wise. 



Nest, "of willow twigs, lined with maiden cane leaves; in a low bush two 

 and a half feet above the water." Young two-thirds grown, Lake Flirt, 

 Fla., June 8, 1890. (Scott, Auk, 1891, 309.) 



