634 / AVES—BITTERN...STORK. 
THE AMERICAN BLTTERWN! 
Is common tv all our sea and river marshes, though no where numerous; 
it rests al] day among the reeds and rushes, and, unless disturbed, feeds and 
flies only during the night. In some places it is called the Indian hen. . On 
the seacoast of New Jersey, it is known by the name of dunkadoo, a word 
probably imitative of its note. It utters sometimes a hollow guttural note, 
awong the reeds; but has nothing of that long booming sound for which 
the European bittern is so remarkable. When disturbed, they rise with a 
hollow /wa, and are then easily shot down, as they fly heavity. Like most 
other night birds, their sight is most acute during the evening twilight; but 
their hearing is at all times exquisite. They make their nests in swamps, 
laying four eggs in the long grass. 
THE BEAST SPEIER N 
ls the smallest known species of the whole tribe. It is commonly found 
in fresh water meadows, and rarely visits the salt marshes. In the 
meadows of Schuylkill and Delaware below Philadelphia, a few of these 
birds breed every year; making their nests in the thick tussocks of grass in 
swampy places. When alarmed they seldom fly. far, but take shelter among 
the reeds or long grass. They are scarcely ever seen exposed, but skulk 
during the whole day; and, like the preceding species, feed chiefly at night. 
This little creature measures but twelve inches in length. 
THE STORK. 
THE most remarkable of this tribe is the white stork, the length of which 
is about three feet. The bill is nearly eight inches long, and of a fine red 
color. The plumage is wholly white, except the orbits of the eyes, which 
are bare and blackish ; some of the feathers on the side of the back and on 
the wings are black. The skin, the legs, and the bare parts of the thighs 
are red. 
The white stork is semi-domestic; haunting towns and cities, and in 
many places stalking unconcernedly about the streets, in search of offal and 
1 Ardea minor, Witson. 2 Ardea exilis, GMEL. 
3 Ciconia alba, Betton. The genus Ciconia has the bill long, straight, stout, cylindri 
cal, in the form of an elongated pointed cone; ridge rounded, of equal height with the 
head; under mandible slightly hent upwards; nostrils longitudinally cleft in a groove of 
the horny substance ; eyes surrounded with a naked space; legs long; the three anterior 
toes united to the first joint, the hind toe jointed on the same level as the others; wings 
of moderate size. 
