236 



along the edge of lower mandible 2*75 ; bare tibia *5 ; tarsus 21 ; middle toe and claw 25 ; bind toe 

 and claw T5. 



Young male. Differs from tbe adult in having the plumage of the back darker, and the wing-coverts of a 

 rich tawny buff, shading into chestnut on the secondary coverts and towards the flexure. 



Remarks. Mr. Gould, in his account of this species in Australia, states that " the sexes differ considerably 

 from each other, the female being mottled and of a smaller size than the male;" and he gives the 

 following description of the former : — " Head and back chestnut ; wing-coverts very deep tawny, passing 

 into chestnut on the tips of the coverts and secondaries ; primaries grey, tipped with brown \ tail black ; 

 sides of the neck pale chestnut ; front of the throat and the under surface white, with a stripe of tawny 

 down the middle, and a small streak of brown in the centre of each feather, the brown hue predomi- 

 nating, and forming a conspicuous mark down the throat." No specimen has yet been obtained in 

 New Zealand answering to the above account; but, so far as I can learn, the supposed example of the 

 female in the Canterbury Museum (corresponding more nearly in plumage to the young male as described 

 above) was not dissected ; and without this it would of course be impossible to determine the sex. The 

 young bird from which I have taken my description exhibits one or two new feathers among the wing- 

 coverts marked as in the adult wdtk a broad central streak of blackish brown, thus indicating a trans- 

 ition to the more handsome variegated plumage ; and Dr. Garland, who dissected the specimen, informs 

 me that it jn'oved to be a male. The bird described by Mr. Purdie (/. c.) with " rufous-brown eyes 

 and buff wing-coverts " was evidently in an immature state. 



This Little Bittern is undoubtedly the true representative in our hemisphere of the Ardetta 

 minuta of Europe, to which it bears a very close resemblance both in appearance and in habits. 

 It is a very rare species in Australia, where, according to Gould, only a few individuals have as 

 yet been pi-ocured, and all of these from one locality. It is equally rare in New Zealand, and 

 appears to be scarcely less local in its distribution. The first recorded specimens (two in number) 

 were obtained by Mr. Shaw at Kanieri, on the west coast, in March 1868, and forwarded to the 

 Canterbury Museum, where they are still preserved. Subsequently a third specimen was obtained 

 in one of the swampy creeks that feed the Okarita lagoon — and another at the head of the 

 Whakatipu Lake, above Queenstown, in the Province of Otago. I am indebted to the kindness of 

 Mr. Clapcott and Dr. Garland respectively for the specimens of the adult and young from which 

 the above descriptions are taken ; both of these were obtained in the vicinity of the Hokitika 

 township, in the autumn of 1871. 



Mr. Docherty, who collected some of the examples enumerated above, has furnished the 

 following interesting notes on the subject : — " They are to be found on the salt-water lagoons on 

 the seashore, always hugging the timbered side of the same. I have seen them in two positions, 

 viz. : — standing on the bank of the lagoon, with their heads bent forward, studiously watching the 

 water ; at other times I have seen them standing straight up, almost perpendicular ; I should say 

 this is the proper position for the bird to be placed in when stuffed. When speaking of lagoons 

 as the places where they are to be found, I may mention that I caught one about two miles in 

 the bush, on the bank of a creek ; but the creek led to a lagoon. They live on small fishes or 

 the roots of reeds ; I should say the latter, because at the very place where I caught one I 

 observed the reeds turned up and the roots gone. They are very solitary, and always found alone, 

 and they stand for hours in one place. I heard a person say that he had opened one and found 

 a large egg in it. They breed on the ground in very obscure places ; I never heard their cry." 



