BRITISH BIRDS. 





THE LITTLE BITTERN. 



(Ardea Minuta, Linn. Heron blangios, Temm.) 



THE body is about the size of a Thrush. The 

 bill, from the tip to the brow, is, in length, one 

 inch and seven-eighths, greenish yellow, dusky at 

 the tip of the upper mandible, and the edges are 

 jagged; the feathers on the top of the head are 

 elongated behind; these, as well as the back and 

 tail, are black, with greenish reflections, and the 

 secondary and primary quills are nearly the same; 

 the neck is long, the hinder part of it bare of 

 feathers, but those from the fore part fall back and 

 cover it; sides of the chin dull white; the cheeks 

 incline to chesnut ; the neck, lesser coverts of the 

 wings, lower part of the breast, and the thighs, are 



