52 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



especially numerous in the St. Francis basin. In the more 

 southern part of the state the first appear in March, but April and 

 October are the months when the transient visitants are most 

 common and generally distributed. A few linger through 

 November. November 19, 1906, one was caught in the heart of 

 St. Louis in a sleet storm unable to continue its flight, because 

 covered with sleet and frozen rain. In the very backward spring 

 of 1907 a transient individual was met with in Calvary Cemetery 

 at St. Louis as late as May 9. Numerous examples are known, 

 proving that such birds as Bitterns do not follow certain migra- 

 tion routes, but travel broadcast over the country! Mr. E. Sey- 

 mour Woodruff found a Bittern on April 8, 1907, beside a small 

 pool of rainwater in a shallow depression on top of the plateau in 

 the woods of Shannon Co. 



*191. Ardetta exilis (Gmel.). Least Bittern. 



Ardea exilis. Little Bittern. 



Geog. Dist. — Northern South America and West Indies to 

 southern British Provinces. Breeds throughout the United 

 States from Maine to southern Oregon, except in the mountainous 

 regions of the West. Winters from the Gulf coast southward. 



In Missouri the Least Bittern is a locally common summer 

 resident from the middle of April in the south, and nearly a month 

 later in the north, to September. It is a denizen of the reedy 

 lakes and sloughs in the flood plains of the Mississippi and Mis- 

 souri Rivers. Even where plentiful, they are seldom seen in the 

 daytime, but become active toward evening, when they move 

 about by clasping the reed stalks just above the water and flying 

 from one part of the lake to another low over the plant growth. 

 In the love season their peculiar chat-like note may often be 

 heard coming from the dense reeds. Specimens taken near 

 Springfield (Dr. D. T. Kizer) and at Billings (J. D. Kastendieck) 

 show that the Least Bitterns do not follow the large rivers in 

 their migrations, but cross the Ozarks. 



Subfamily Ardeinae. Herons and Egrets. 

 *194. Ardea herodias Linn. Great Blue Heron. 



Blue Crane. Fish Heron. 



Geog. Dist. — From northern South America to Nova Scotia, 

 Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, rarely to the Northwest 



