108 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Subgenus ARDETTA Geay. 

 BOTAURUS EXILIS (Gmel.). 



71. Least Bittern. (191) 



No peculiar feathers, but those of the lower neck, long and loose, as in the 

 Bittern; size, very small; 11-H inches long; wing, 4-5; tail, 2 or less; bill, 2 

 or less; tarsus, about 1§. Male: — With the slightly crested crown, back and 

 tail, glossy greenish-black ; neck behind, most of the wing coverts, and outer 

 edges of inner quills, rich chestnut, other wing coverts, brownish-yellow; front 

 and sides of neck and under parts, brownish-yellow varied with white along the 

 throat line, the sides of the breast with a blackish-brown patch; bill and lores 

 mostly pale yellow, the culmen blackish ; eyes and soles, yellow ; legs, greenish- 

 yellow. Female : — With the black of the back entirely, that of the crown 

 mostly or wholly replaced by rich purplish-chestnut ; the edges of the scapulars 

 forming a brownish-white stripe on either side. Length, 11-14; wing, 4-5; tail, 

 bill, tarsus, 2 each. 



Hab. — Temperate North America, from the British Provinces to the West 

 Indies and Brazil. 



Nest, among the rushes. 



Eggs, three to five, white with a bluish tinge. 



This diminutive Bittern, though seemingly slender and tender, is 

 not only generally distributed in Southern Ontario, but has been 

 reported by Professor Macoun "common throughout the country" 

 in the North- West, and Dr. Bell has specimens from Manitoba and 

 from York Factory. At Hamilton Bay it is a regular summer 

 resident, raising its young in the most retired parts of the marsh. 

 The nest is large for the size of the bird, a platform being made for 

 its support by bending down the flags till they cross each other a 

 foot or more above the water level. The whole affair is very loose 

 and readily falls asunder at the close of the season. The Least 

 Bittern is not supposed to be so plentiful as its big brother, but from 

 its retiring habits may be more so than we are aware. It is seldom 

 seen except by those who invade its favorite haunts, and when 

 disturbed it rises without note or noise of any kind, and with a 

 wavering, uncertain flight passes olf for a short distance, again to 

 drop among the rushes. 



At other times it has been noticed by the hunter to drop at a 

 point which he marks and goes to as quickly as possible, but can see 

 nothing of the bird. He may find, however, that these little birds 

 breed in communities, often associated with the Rails, and that the 

 portion of the bog which they occupy is interlaced with a series of 

 ■covered runs, like rat roads, among the flags, along which the little 

 birds travel at a rate which neither dog nor man can emulate, and 



