170 AKDEID.E. 



of Europe and North America/ makes Montagu's Ardea lentigi- 

 nosa, distinct from the American bird {A. minor, Wilson) , with 

 which, however, as described by Dr. Bichardson, the one killed 

 in Ireland is perfectly identical in species. It agrees so well with 

 the ' description of a male killed on the Saskatchewan plains, 

 8th July 1827/* that all the details of colour and markings 

 equally apply to this example, except in the few following very 

 trivial points : — 



" The feathers on the vent and under tail-coverts being very sparingly dotted with 

 brown towards the shafts instead of being ' unspotted ; ' the long feathers on the 

 front and sides of the neck and breast having the central stripe of mottled clove-brown 

 bordered with a blackish line which imparts to them a beautiful finish ; outside of it 

 is a line of deep yellow shading off gradually to a lighter tint at the margin. In every 

 character oiform the bird before me agrees with that description, except in having a 

 slight development of web between the outer and inner toe, instead of being ' quite 

 free ' of such ; and in the first quill being the longest instead of the ' second and 

 third' — the first exceeds the second, as the second does the third, by not more than 

 one line (—th of an inch) in length. It maybe added that the third exceeds the 

 fourth by \\ line, and the fourth the fifth by 6 lines ; and that these quills present a 

 very interesting gradation in form from the first, which is pointed, to the fifth, that 

 is quite square at the tip. Like the nine birds examined by Dr. Richardson, it pos- 

 sesses just ten tail-feathers. Wilson attributes twelve to A. minor. Two specimens 

 could not be expected to resemble each other more nearly than that described by Dr. 

 Richardson, and the one killed in Ireland ; but the differences have been stated that 

 the description of the former may suffice for the other, with the exceptions noted. 



in. lin. 

 Length (totalf) of Irish specimen 

 Length of wing 



bill from first feathers on 



bill to rictus . 



tarsus 



naked part of tibia 



1 — middle toe 



middle claw measun 



hind toe 



hind toe claw 



" Although the European and American bitterns have a general 

 resemblance, they are found, when compared by .the ornithologist, 



* Consequently it differs entirely from the other male killed on the 27th June, and 

 which doubtless must have been a bird of a different age. 



f Not quite satisfactory, as the bird had been skinned. 





26 





11 9 



forehead to point 



2 9 





3 7| 





3 8 





1 2 





2 10 



a straight line 



n 





1 5 





1 0i 



