m 



ARDKID.K — TIIK HKHONS — ARDETTA. 



71 



i 



l.uKHii'iin specii's. This is a mistake. Tlie cry of our bird is one quite as reiiuirkable, 

 ili(.ii,i,'li said by some writers — Init not by Hieiiardson — to be ([uite ditt'erent. Dur- 

 iii.;- mv residence in ('andiridj,'e, in tlie sprinj,' and early summer, its singular, resonant 

 , rits eoiild be heard at quite a distan<'e, issuing from the Fresh I'lUid meadows early 

 ill the evening, and even on cloudy tUiys. They seemed to l)o uttered. in a deep ehok- 

 iui,' tone, and have lu'cn well compared to the syllables ji<»nj>-i'n/-ijur. Dr. ISachman 

 .[.scribes it as a hoarse croaking note, sounding as if the bird's throat were tilled with 

 u.itcr. r>y many these .sounds are thought clo.sely to resend)le the noise made by 

 .hiving a stake in boggy soil; and hence the Jiittern is popularly known as the 

 • SiMkc-drivcr." and also as the " I'ost-driver." 



It is an occasional visitant to tlreat IJritain, where some live or six instances of its 

 (•;i|)ture have been recorded. 



According to the ob.servations of Captain Mendire, the number of eggs in its nest 

 v;irics from five to seven. 1 have never met with nujre than four. Kggs in my col- 

 lect inn (No. 7.S;>). procured l>y .Mr. Kundien in Wisconsin, are of a rounded oval 

 sliapc ecpially obtuse at either end. and of a uniform brownish-drab color, neither 

 siiiittcd nor having any tinge of green or olive in their shadings, as stated by some 

 writers. They range from 1.0(1 to \M inches in length, and from 1.45 to 1.50 in 

 lire;i(lth. These eggs vary but little in size, shape, or color, and are hardly ''pointed 

 at (Uic end," as described by Varrell. 



(iKxrs ARDETTA, (ikay. 



.trdiii/ii, UiiNAr. iSyiiopsis, 1828 (tcsti' (!|;av, (ini. & .Siilig. 18.'>5, 113). TyiH', Ariku cj-ilis, 



(iMl-.l.. (X.il.il' ISoie, 1822 :) 

 .Iril'llii, (Ikay, List nl' (icncr:!, \y\\. 1812, Hi. Tvim', Anlcn miiinfn, Linn. 

 Eimliscitii, l!i.()(!i'.U, lluiiilli. 1. 1842, 410 (siiiuf tyix')- 

 •' Anldntllti " (ISy.'i), Vkiiiikacx (teste llAiiri,. Oni. WV.stafi-. |i. 224). Type, Artl<a Slurmi, Waul. 



(1i:n. Cmau. Kxtrcnu'ly Hiiiail (tlic siiuillesi of) IlerDiiM, or miniature Uilteriis ; dilfeiiiig from 

 till' tiiie liitteriis cliielly in tlieir iliiniuulive si/.e, iind in tho fact that the sexes (h'lfei in enlor.' 



■Ili.1. 



' Wo cnn liml tio other tliirereiice in I'onn nr projiortionN l«'twi'eii IhlKurits ami Anh'lln. In the scxeil 



s) iiiiciis of./. ('/(iv/i((TW wlii.'li We have iM-ei: ulile tu examine tlieie is no sexaiil iliU'ereiiee of i)lunuige. 



Tile sex of the .single su|i]K)seJ feniah', however, may have iH'eii ini'orreetly iletermincd. 



rP 



