American Bittern 79 
and bill; Felger states that two were taken by Mr. L. L. Llewellyn 
at Fort Logan, close to Denver, August 30th, 1902, one of which is now 
in the State collection at Denver. 
Family ARDEIDZ, 
This family is a large one, containing the Herons, 
Egrets, Bitterns, and their allies. The bill is generally 
slender and straight with the usual longitudinal groove, 
and notched at the tip; there are eleven primaries and 
the number of the rectrices varies from eight to twelve ; 
hind toe on a level with the others ; a basal web between 
the middle and inner, nearly obsolete between the 
middle and outer toes ; claw of the middle toe pectinated. 
For key of the genera, see p. 73. 
Genus BOTAURUS. 
Birds of medium size—wing about 12, with the bill rather short ; 
culmen slightly shorter than the tarsus; mandibles serrated near 
the tips; tail short, of ten feathers only ; tibio-tarsus feathered down 
to about three-quarters of an inch from the joint; tarsus distinctly 
shorter than the middlé toe and claw; plumage long, lax, mottled 
yellow and black; no ornamental plumes. 
A widespread genus found over the greater part of the world, with 
only one American species. 
American Bittern. Botaurus lentiginosus. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 190—Colorado Records—Aiken 72, p. 209; 
Drew 85, p. 18; Morrison 89, p. 166 ; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 60, 197 ; Dille 03, 
p. 74; Rockwell 08, p. 158 ; Henderson 09, p. 227 ; Felger 09, p. 285. 
Description.—Adult—Upper-surface ochraceous-yellow and dark 
rufous freckled with dusky, becoming plain dusky brown on the 
primaries and on the crown; below paler yellow, with a number of 
brown, darker-edged stripes chiefly on the lower-neck and breast ; 
white on, the throat; a black lateral streak on the neck ; iris yellow, 
bill yellowish, dusky on the culmen, legs dull yellowish-green. Length 
28-0; wing 11-25; tail 4-0; culmen 3-0; tarsus 3-60. 
The female is smaller—wing about 10-0, but the variation in size 
is very great, irrespective of locality or sex. Coues gives the length as 
varying from 32 to 45, and the wing from 9-50 to 13. 
