598 
FRECKLED BITTERN. 
light part ; the tertials correspoDcl with the lower 
order of scapulars, which have their margins ches- 
nut, with small dusky lines and spots : the tail is 
short, and in colour similar to the tertials : the 
wings when closed do not reach to the end of the 
tail : the legs are three inches and three quarters 
in length, from the heel to the knee : the toes long 
and slender ; the middle one, including the claw, 
(which is three quarters of an inch in length, and 
pectinated on the inner side,) is as long as the 
leg ; the claws are not much hooked, but the hind 
one most so, and by far the longest ; their colour 
dusky brown : the colour of the legs and bare 
space above the knees, (which last is about an 
inch,) appears to have been greenish.” 
This bird was shot by Mr. Cunningham in Dor- 
setshire, in the autumn of 1804 . It was observed 
by him in the marshy meadows about one mile 
from the river Froome, whilst in pursuit of Phea- 
sants, and upon its rising from the ground it 
uttered a loud noise, like the tap on a drum : its 
flight was rather rapid. 
This has a great affinity to (if not the same as) 
the American Bittern of Wilson. 
