BOTAURUS. 127 
on side of neck; lower parts nearly immaculate; wing 10.10, culmen 
3.25, tarsus 3.75, middle toe 3.75. Hab. Tropical America, north to 
Nicaragua. 
B. pinnatus (WacL.), South American Bittern. 
a’, Size very small (wing .ess than 6.00); sexes more or less different in color (ex- 
_ cept in A. involucris ?), and young appreciably different from adults. (Sub- 
(11.) genus Ardetta Gray.) 
b'. Upper parts not conspicuously striped; adult males with top of head, 
back, scapulars, rump, and tail uniform glossy black. 
c’. Quills tipped with cinnamon-rufous, or pale cinnamon; adult male with 
a distinct narrow stripe of buff along each side of back. 
Adult male: Sides of head and neck ochraceous, deepening into 
chestnut on hind-neck; chin, throat, and fore-neck whitish, 
striped with pale buff; central portion of wing-covert region 
baff, surrounded by cinnamon-rufous ; lower parts buff-whitish. 
Adult female: Similar to the male, but black replaced by brown, 
and scapular stripes much broader. Young: Similar to adult 
female, but feathers of back and scapulars tipped with buff. 
Length 12.00-14.25, wing 4.30-5.25, culmen 1.60-1.90, tarsus 
1.50-1.75, middle toe 1.40-1.60. Zggs 1.20 x .93, white, or 
greenish white. Hab. Whole of temperate North America, and 
tropical America south to Brazil. 
191. B. exilis (Guxt.). Least Bittern. 
e, Quills without rufous or cinnamon tips; adult males without trace of 
lighter stripe along sides of back. 
d‘, Adult male: Lower tail-coverts dull black; wing-coverts rich 
chestnut; neck similar, the lower parts more rufous; length 
(skin) 10.80, wing 4.30-4.60, culmen 1.80-2.00, tarsus 1.40-1.65. 
Hab. Florida, Ontario, Michigan, ete. 
191.1. B. neoxenus (Cory). Cory’s Least Bittern.’ 
@. Adult male: Lower tail-coverts white; wing-coverts pale grayish 
buff, becoming nearly white on greater coverts; neck similar, 
but darker and more tinged with buff; lower parts pale buffy, 
becoming white medially and posteriorly. Adult female: Back, 
scapulars, and rump umber-brown, streaked narrowly with 
buffy (except on lower back and rump); rest of plumage much 
as in adult male, but more decidedly buffy, the fore-neck con- 
spicuously striped, the sides, etc., more narrowly striped, or 
streaked. Length about 12.00-13.00, wing 5.50-5.80, culmen 
1.75-1.85, tarsus 1.60-1.70. Hab. Europe, ete. 
B. minutus (Liny.). European Least Bittern.3 
b. Upper parts conspicuously striped with black and ochraceous ; quills broadly 
1 Ardea pinnata “Licut.” Wact., Isis, 1829, 663. Botaurus pinnatue Gray, Gen. B. iii. 1847, 557. 
2 Ardetta neoxena Cory, Auk, iii. April, 1886, 262; ib. July, 1886, 408. 
8 Ardea minuta Linn., 8. N. ed, 12, i. 1766, 240. Botaurus minutus Bors, Isis, 1822, 559, 
