4540 THE ZooLocist—JuLy, 1875. 
found its nest in pollard trees —Thomas Gillah ; 9, Nunthorpe Terrace, 
ork. 
Bitterns in South-Western Hampshire during the Winter of 1874-5,— 
The unusual appearance of the common bittern during the past winter has 
been commented upon more than once. I have been at some trouble to 
collect the following well-authenticated instances of its occurrence in this 
neighbourhood, which I trust will not be uninteresting :—One was killed 
in Christchurch Harbour in December; one at Bisterne, near Ringwood, 
on the 24th of December; one at Sopley, near Christchurch, on the 5th of 
January; one at Ringwood on the 11th of January; one near Christchurch 
on the 12th of January, and another seen at the same time; one near the 
Osmamby ford-stream, New Forest, on the 14th of January; one on the 
borders of the New Forest at Fordingbridge on the 20th of February; one 
at Bisterne, near Ringwood, on the 25th of February; one near Ringwood 
on the 4th of March; and two at Keyhaven, near Lymington, of which 
Iam unable to obtain the exact date. I have heard of several others having 
been seen or killed, but I was unable fully to authenticate them, although 
I have no doubt of their occurrence. Those in the foregoing list either 
came under my own observation or that of friends, to whose kindness I am 
under obligation for the information. I had never seen the bird before in 
the flesh, and my friend Mr. Haydon, of Fordingbridge, informs me that it 
is some twenty years ago since a bittern was killed in his neighbourhood, 
but that on the date in question three pairs were shot in the vicinity. 
Most of the specimens of last winter were shot in the valley of the Avon, 
although two, if not more, were killed in or near the forest. I had the 
pleasure of dissecting the specimens obtained on the 24th of December and 
11th of January, and the latter proved rather an interesting one: in its 
stomach was an eel fifteen inches long and a pike ten inches in length; 
the head of the pike was partly digested, otherwise it and the eel were 
quite perfect ; a quantity of river-weeds were in the stomach with the fishes, 
evidently taken and swallowed with them; in fact, it seemed impossible 
that the stomach could have contained so much, and it was no wonder that 
the bird was “dull and heavy ’”—as the person who shot it said—after such 
ameal. On dissecting the head of this bird I found two leeches buried 
deep in the nasal organs near the eyes. Whilst skinning the bird I saw 
more than once what I believe was a dipterous parasite, similar to that 
I described (Ornithomyia avicularia) in the ‘ Entomologist’ (Entom. vii. 
137). I had never before seen similar parasites upon water-fowl; indeed 
I am inclined to believe that they are not so subject to these torments 
as are their less aqueous relations of the feathered tribes. Having read 
of the esteem in which the flesh of the bittern was formerly held, I 
resolved to try it, although the strong oily and fishy smell of the bird 
during the process of skinning was not very inviting, and the taste of 
