BOTAURUS. 197 



Stelldris=sta,Tiy, marked with stars (stellse) ; a translation of Aristotle's 

 name, darepias (H. A. ix. 1, 23). 



Distribution in the British Islands. — A Winter Visitor, 

 occurring also in spring and autumn, but most numerous 

 in the winter months. Formerly it bred annually in many 

 suitable parts of England and Wales, more especially in East 

 Anglia. A few pairs have nested of recent years in Norfolk 

 and elsewhere, thanks to the efforts made to protect them. It 

 is an irregular visitor to Scotland, and wanders occasionally 

 to the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. 

 In Ireland it is probably an annual visitor, chiefly to the 

 southern counties. 



General Distribution. — The Bittern breeds throughout 

 Europe generally south of 60° N. latitude in Sweden, and 

 extends from western Siberia to China and Japan. Thence 

 it can be traced westward across Asia through Burma and 

 India to north Africa and the Azores. A partial migrant, 

 the birds from the more northern portions of the range move 

 southwards in winter to south Europe, north Africa, and 

 India. It is represented by allied forms in south Africa and 

 North America. 



Botaurus lentiginoSUS. American Bittern. 



Ardea lentiginosa Montagu, Suppl. to Ornith. Diet. 1813 

 [no pagination] : Dorset, England. 



Botaurus lentiginosus {Montagu) ; B. O. U. List, 1st ed. 1883, 

 p. Ill; Sharpe, Oat. Birds S. M. xxvi. 1898, p. 259; 

 Saunders, Manual, 2nd ed. 1899, p. 385. 



ie«iijmostts=full of freckles, freckled; from lentigo=& spot shaped Kke a 

 lentil {lens). 



Distribution in the British Islands. — An Occasional Visitor. 

 About forty have been procured. Curiously enough, the 

 species was described by Montagu in 1813 from a specimen 

 taken in Dorsetshire. In England and Wales seventeen 

 have occurred, in Scotland seven, and in Ireland fifteen. 



General Distribution. — The American Bittern inhabits 

 North America, from British Columbia, Labrador, and 



