OF VIRGINIA 33 
FAMILY ARDEIDAL.—HERONS, BITTERNS. 
SUBFAMILY BOTAURIN/E.—BITTERNS. 
GENUS BoTAURUS. 
[190]. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). Biltern. 
Ranex.—North America. Breeds from central British 
Columbia, southern Mackenzie, central Keewatin, southern 
Ungava and Newfoundland south to southern California, 
northern Arizona, Kansas, the Ohio Valley, and North 
Carolina, and less frequently in southern United States; 
winters from California, Arizona, southern Texas, the 
Ohio Valley, and Virginia south to Cuba and Guatemala, 
and casually to the Bahamas, Porto Rico, Jamaica, and 
Great Britain. 
This bird, as well as the following species, is almost 
unknown to the majority of people, other than bird stu- 
dents, or the so-called “Bird Cranks.” Inhabiting the 
marshes as it does, seldom rising unless flushed by man or 
dog, and migrating by night, few there are to see it. It is, 
though, a much larger bird than the Least Bittern, and its 
habits are not auite so seclusive as that species, and it 
flushes more easily when disturbed during its feeding. If 
one should creep quietly through the underbrush border- 
ing some sluggish stream, or quiet pond overhung with 
bushes, and keen quiet for some time, they might easily 
expect to see a Bittern cautiously skulking along the shore 
line searching for food, or in their most characteristic atti- 
tude, motionless, with head and neck drawn down as if 
the head and shoulders were closely connected. While 
