72 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



HERONS AND BITTERNS: Family Ardddae. 



BITTERN; SUN-GAZER: Botaurus lentiginosm 

 (Montagu). 



State records. — The bittern occurs in moderate numbers as 

 a spring and fall migrant and a few may remain throughout 

 the winter. McCormack says that it is never abundant at 

 Leighton, where it is most frequently met with in July and 

 August. One was shot there September 9, 1912, and another 

 October 19, 1912. Dr. Avery collected a specimen in Hale 

 County, 5 miles west of Uniontown, March 28, 1891 ; and Mrs. 

 B. R. Samuel has a specimen taken at Guntersville. Outsell 

 reported one seen at Bayou Labatre, August 26, 1911. I 

 noted single birds there, November 16 and 20, 1915, and W. L. 

 Bryant took a specimen, December 2, 1916. Single individuals 

 were noted in Chuckvee Bay, March 16, 1912 ; at Montgomery, 

 April 19, 1912; Auburn, April 27, 1912; and in Duckers Bay, 

 December 4, 1915. Holt took one at Barachias, November 

 15, 1911, and one at Thomasville, April 11, 1912, on the edge 

 of a cultivated field, where it had been feeding on crawfish. 

 Golsan has observed the bird as late as May 28 in marshes 

 near Autaugaville — suggesting the possibility of its breeding 

 there.* 



Migrants from the south reach the southern border of the 

 State in March and occasional individuals may be found dur- 

 ing all of that month and April. The southward movement 

 in fall begins early, often in July or August, and migrants 

 may" be found as late as November. 



General habits. — The bittern lives chiefly in wet marshes, 

 but during its migrations is sometimes found in low fields 

 near water courses. It is an expert at concealment, and its 

 habit of standing motionless among the reeds with its bill 

 pointing skyward has given to it the name of "sun-gazer." 

 Its curious booming notes, suggesting the sound made by an 

 old-fashioned wooden pump or the driving of a stake may be 

 heard for a long distance and have given the bird another 

 common name, "stake-driver." 



♦Golsan and Holt, The Auk, vol. 31, p. 217, 1914. 



