282 



the breast are warm clay-coloured with broad central streaks of dark rufous marbled with blackish ; 

 rest of the underparts warm yellowish buff, streaked with broad lines of blackish brown ; under wing- 

 coverts rufous buff, barred with blackish brown ; bill greenish yellow ; legs yellowish green, almost 

 grass-green; claws blackish; iris yellowish. Total length about 26 inches, culmen 2 - 8, gape 355, 

 wing 11*7, tail 4 - 45, tarsus 35, bare portion of tibia l - 45. 



Female. Similar to the male, but less in size. 



Young. Resembles the adult, but paler in general coloration, the rusty yellow tinge being replaced by pale 

 yellowish, and the markings are browner. 



Nestling in doivn (fide Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. ix. p. 163). Naumann says that he found a nest in which 

 two of the eggs were hatched and the young birds were already dry, two were emerging from the shells, 

 the fifth egg proving to be addled. These young birds he describes as being covered with long, rather 

 loose down, which on the head and upper part of the body had long hair-like points sticking out in all 

 directions. In colour the down is dark rusty yellow, becoming pale rust-red towards the tips. The 

 upper parts of the body were more red, and the underparts more yellowish ; bill and feet reddish 

 white ; iris pearl-white. 



The range of our common European Bittern is very extensive, as it is found throughout Europe, 

 except in the high north, in Africa it occurs as far south as the Cape of Good Hope, and in 

 Asia it is found as far east as Japan. It does not inhabit the Nearctic Region, being there 

 replaced by Botaurus lentiginosus. Formerly, when extensive fens and morasses existed in 

 England, it was by no means rare with us, and bred here regularly; but as the fens have been 

 brought under cultivation it has gradually decreased in numbers, until it is now merely a rare 

 straggler, and no longer breeds here. Occasionally it is met with, but more frequently in the 

 autumn and winter than at other seasons. The season of 1874 has been exceptional in that 

 respect ; for many instances have been recorded of its occurrence in various parts of England 

 and Ireland. Mr. A. G. More, however, states (Ibis, 1865, p. 433) that the latest instance of its 

 having bred in England that he could hear of was about ten years previous to that date, when 

 a nest was taken at the Reservoirs near Tring. It used probably to be most numerous in our 

 eastern counties, owing to the nature of the country there being most suitable to its habits ; but 

 even there it seems long ago to have ceased to breed. On the west side of our island it is rare ; 

 and Mr. Cecil Smith informs me that it is looked on as a very scarce straggler in Somersetshire, 

 chiefly owing to its favourite haunts having been drained. In Scotland it is said by Mr. Robert 

 Gray (B. of W. of Scotl. p. 279) not to be a common species anywhere, though, he adds, " I have 

 seen examples from almost every county. The Bittern has once or twice of late years been killed 

 at Possil Marsh, and also at Hogganfield, both places being within a few miles of Glasgow. It 

 has likewise been shot in Arran, Islay, and Mull, but not, so far as I am aware, on any of the 

 other inner islands, except Skye, on which island one was shot in May 1867. On the Outer 

 Hebrides it appears to be a rare bird : one was shot in North Uist a few years ago ; but I am not 

 able to quote any other authentic instance of the occurrence of the Bittern in the long island. 

 In the east of Scotland the distribution of the Bittern extends from Berwick to Caithness, the 

 number of specimens obtained being about equal to that met with in the west." 



