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Genus BOTAURUS. 



Ardea apud Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 239 (1766). 

 Botaurus, Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xi. p. 593 (1819). 

 Nycticorax apud Ehrenberg, Symb. Phys. Av. fol. m (1828). 

 Butor apud Swainson, Classif. of B. ii. p. 354 (1837). 



The Bitterns differ from their allies chiefly in having the body much compressed ; the feathers on 

 the neck are also much elongated ; the head is oblong and much compressed, the legs short, and 

 the toes and claws very long They inhabit the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australian, 

 Nearctic, and Neotropical Regions, two species being found in the Western Palaearctic Region, 

 one as a resident, the second [Botaurus lentiginosus) being only a rare straggler from the 

 American continent. 



These birds frequent marshy localities, where, being habitually secretive and shy, resting 

 hidden by day, they are seldom seen. They are nocturnal in their habits, commencing to move 

 about when the shades of evening set in. Their flight is soft and noiseless ; and they seldom 

 fly far. Their call in the spring is a peculiarly weird, loud, booming sound, like the distant 

 bellowing of a bull ; but their usual note is a clear, loud croak. They feed on reptiles, fish, 

 aquatic insects, and small mammals. 



They breed in marshes, their nest being a mere collection of aquatic herbage, placed on the 

 ground amongst the reeds ; and their eggs are uniform olivaceous in colour. 



Botaurus stellaris, the type of the genus, has the bill longer than the head, compressed, 

 tapering to a sharp point, gape-line straight, upper mandible slightly notched at the tip, nostrils 

 linear; space in front of the eye bare; wings large and full, the first three quills nearly equal, 

 inner secondaries nearly as long as the longest primaries ; tail short, even ; legs moderately long, 

 stout, and strong ; tarsus with broad anterior scutelhe ; toes very long and strong, scutellate 

 above ; claws long, stout, slightly curved, acute, that on the middle toe scutellate on the inner 

 edge ; plumage very full and soft, feathers on the sides and lower part of the neck much 

 elongated, the former directed obliquely backwards so as to cover the hind neck, which is over- 

 grown with soft down only. 



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