BOTAUEUS. 183 



xvi. p. 788" ; A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 70 '"; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. 



Mus. xxvi. p. 259". 

 Ardea minor, Wilson, Amer. Orn. viii. p. 35, t. 65. fig. 3 ". 

 Botaurus minor, Duges, La Nat. i. p. 142 " ; Lawr. Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. ii. p. 310 " ; Sumichr. 



La Nat. v. p. 233 ". 

 Ardea mokoho, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xiv. p. 440 " ; Wagler, Isis, 1831, p. 531 ". 



Supra rufescens, brunneo vermiculatim fasciatiis ; dorso posfcico et uropygio ochraceis, brunneo vermiculatis ; 

 tectricibus alarum quoque ochraceis, sparsim brunneo vermiculatis ; remigibus nigricantibus, apicem 

 versus rufls nigro vermiculatis ; seciindariis rufescentibus, dorso concoloribus, et eodem modo vermiculatis; 

 pileo nigricante, plumis rufo marginatis ; supercUio late rufo ; facie laterali colloque ochraceis ; gutture 

 aJbo, fascia mediana lata pallide rufescente, plumis vix nigro fasoiolatis, praepectore eodem modo striate ; 

 plaga nigra ad latera guise posita ; hypochondriis late rufo striatis ; abdomine pallidiore ochraceo ; 

 axillaribus et subalaribus ochraceis, iis brunneo vermiculatim transfasciatis ; maxilla olivascenti-nigra, 

 mandibula pallide flava ; pedibus flavicanti-viridibus ; iride pallide flava. Long, tota circa 18-5, alae 10*5, 

 caudae 3"7, culm. 2-95, tarsi 3'6. (Descr. maris adulti ex Chapulco. Mus. nostr.) 

 5 hand a mari distinguenda. Long, tota circa 8'5, alae 10-5. (Descr. spec, ex Manitoba. Mus. Brit.) 

 Juv. vix ab adultis distinguendus, corpore subtus saturatiore rufo striate, plumis clarius nigro vermiculatis. 

 (Descr. exempl. ex Florida. Mus. nostr.) 



Hah. Temperate North America ^^, north to Manitoba and Columbia ^i. — Mexico 

 {Wagler ^'^), Mazatlan (Grayson ^'^), Guanajuato {Buges^^), Lake Patzcuaro 

 {Jouy ^j, Laguna del Rosario ^, Chapulco, Puebla ^^ {Ferrari-Perez), Valley of 

 Mexico, Orizaba {Sumichrast ^^), Cordova {SalU ^), Jalapa {de Oca *) ; Guatemala, 

 Coban ^ n, Duenas^ {0. S.) ; Pajjama {M'Leannan ''). 



B. lentiginosus is found over the greater part of the North-American continent in 

 localities suited to its habits. It occurs throughout Central America, but apparently 

 only in the winter months. Grayson says that at Mazatlan he met with it from 

 October to March, but he was not certain of its being a summer resident. 



Like other Bitterns, this is a marsh-loving bird, and is principaUy nocturnal in its 

 habits, uttering a loud booming note like that of its European relative, B. stellaris. 

 The food consists of fish, frogs, and lizards, as well as field-mice. 



The nest is described as a rough structure of reeds &c., placed on the ground and 

 never in trees or bushes. In some localities it is placed above the level of the earth, ■ 

 where there is any danger of the eggs becoming swamped by a rise of water, in 

 others no nest at all is made, and the eggs are deposited on the ground among the 

 herbage. 



The latter are generally four in number, though occasionally as many as seven, 

 according to Capt. Bendire. They are of a brownish-drab colour. 



2. Botaurus pinuatus. 



Ardea pinnata, Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 663 '. 



Botaurus pinnatus. Gray, Gen. Birds, iii. p. 557 ' ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y-. viii. p. 184 ' ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvi. p. 262 '. 



