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On the Sun-Bittern.



to the Kagu at once, and I had no difficulty in securing some good

pictures.


There are two species of Sun-Bitterns, Eurypyga helias of

Brazil, Amazonia, Bolivia, Guiana, and Venezuela, and the slightly

larger E. major of Central America, Columbia and Ecuador.


These birds are said to inhabit the Swamps, feeding on all

kinds of insects, small fish and probably small frogs. In captivity

they live well on a diet of finely-chopped raw meat, mealworms,

small live fish and any insects procurable. Fly-catching appears to

be one of their favourite occupations. The insect is approached

with slow stealthy steps until the bird is within striking distance,

when the thin, snake-like neck darts forward and the insect is

secured at the top of the spear-like bill.


When at rest amongst vegetation the Sun-Bittern is practi¬

cally invisible, the undulations on its plumage being wonderfully

protective, but no sooner does it rise and expand its large butterfly¬

like wings than it becomes a most conspicuous and very beautiful

object.


The late Mr. A. B. Bartlett contributed a very interesting

account of the breeding of the Sun-Bittern to the Proceedings of the

Zoological Society in 1866. It appears that the year 1865 was re¬

markable for the long continuance of dry hot weather during the

summer and autumn, which probably influenced the breeding and

tendency to breed amongst animals that had previously shown no

■such inclination. In May, a pair of Sun-Bitterns, the first ap¬

parently that the Society had possessed, commenced to show signs

of wishing to breed. Bits of stick, roots of grass and similar

materials were carried about, and the birds were noticed constantly

walking round the water pool apparently in search of something.

The idea suggested itself that they were searching for mud, so this

was supplied, with the result that they commenced at once to use it.


An old straw nest was placed at the top of a ten-foot pole and

was adopted by the birds, both of which carried up mud and clay,

mixed with straw, roots, and grass. The sides of the nest were

raised and thickly plastered with mud. The first egg was laid in

May, but was dropped on the ground, and so much did the fragments

resemble the egg of a Moorhen that, as there was a single blue



