THE STILT-WALKERS. 



85 



the foot greenish yellow. In the female all the dark parts are brownish black, and the light portions 

 of the plumage pale yellow ; the young have the crown and nape reddish brown, striped with a deeper 

 shade, the under side spotted brown and reddish yellow, and lower belly and tail-covers white. The 

 Little Bittern is only a summer visitor to Great Britain. It frequents marshes, osier holts, and other 

 places in the neighbourhood of water, feeding on such small r.nimal food as is there easily obtained. 



The COMMON BITTERN (Botaurus stellaris) is the representative of a" group having a compact 

 body, long thin neck, a narrow high beak, large-toed feet, broad wings, a tail composed of ten 



THE COMMON BITTERN {BotauriiS stellaris). ONE-FOURTH NATURAL SIZE. 



feathers, and thick plumage, which is slightly prolonged on the neck. The sexes only differ in their 

 size. In both the crown is black, the nape greyish black, mixed with yellow, and the rest of the 

 plumage spotted and streaked with dark brown of various shades ; the throat exhibits three stripes ; 

 the eye is bright yellow, and the bare portion around it greyish green ; the upper mandible is brownish 

 grey, and the lower one of greenish hue ; the foot is light green, with yellow joints. This bird is twenty- 

 eight inches long and forty-eight broad. The wing measures fifteen and the tail five inches. The nest 

 is placed in marshes, among reeds. The eggs are five in number, of an olive colour. Its food consists 

 principally of fish and reptiles of various kinds. During the breeding season it utters a loud bellowing 

 noise, and for this cause it probably received the generic name of Botaurus. " This bellowing noise, 

 says Latham, " is supposed to arise from a loose membrane, which can be filled with air and exploded 

 at pleasure. The situation of it is at the divarication of the windpipe. It is oapable of great 



