96 



BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



with buffy and narrowly margined by brownish gray. Im. Similar, but buffy everywhere 

 deeper and more ochraceous. L., 28.00; W., 10.50; Tar., 3.50; B., 3.00. (Chap., Birds o 

 E. N. A.) 



Range. North America north to central Canada; winters from Virginia southward to Guate- 

 mala and Porto Rico. 



Range in North Carolina. Winter visitor on coast, transient in central portion, summer 

 visitor in mountain region. Not yet detected breeding in the State. 



Owing to the retiring habits of this remarkable bird, it is not often seen by the 

 casual observer even in regions where it is comparatively abundant. Although 

 closely related to the herons, it is more like a rail in its manner of skulking through 

 the tall grass of the marshes it frequents. The solemn, unearthly, sucking cry of 

 this bird, heard from far out upon a lonely marsh in the late evening, is a note to 

 haunt the memory. 



FIG. 61. BITTERN. 



We do not know that the Bittern breeds in North Carolina, although it is ex- 

 tremely likely that it does. Pearson heard its cries in June, 1902, issuing from 

 the grassy shallows of Lake Ellis, and a short search on this occasion resulted in 

 flushing a bird. H. H. and C. S. Brimley have frequently taken these birds at 

 Raleigh between the end of March and May 30, and on one occasion in December. 

 Coues saw one at Fort Macon in May, 1871. Atkinson recorded it from Chapel 

 Hill. Cairns found it in Buncombe County from April to October. Bishop noted 

 the bird at Pea Island, February 11, 1901, and again on May 5, 1902. 



Genus Ixobrychus (Billb.) 

 78. Ixobrychus exilis (Gmel.}. LEAST BITTERN. 



Description. Male chiefly glossy black above, brownish yellow below neck, shoulders and 

 wings with chestnut; a buffy area on wing-coverts; female with brown instead of black; under 

 tail-coverts white in both sexes. L., 12.75-14.50; W., 4.42-4.85; T., 1.50-1.75. 



Range. Breeds from southern Canada to Brazil, winters from the Gulf States southward. 



Range in North Carolina. Whole State in summer wherever there are marshes. 



