The American Bittern 



white down which made them look like young furies. Their yellow eyes 

 flashed fire, and they breathed defiance from the tips of their gray-green 

 beaks to the tips of their pale green toes. Poor little tads! I suppose 

 they were really scared half to death. 



No. 388 



American Bittern 



A. O. U. No. 190. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). 



Synonyms. — Bog-bull. Stake-driver. Thunder-pump. Indian Hen. 



Description. — Adult: General color ochraceous or ochraceous-buff; darker, 

 brownish, on back, the crown and upper back washed with blackish, the neck obscurely 

 streaked with buffy and brown; the back and wings finely mottled, brownish, fuscous 

 and ochraceous, becoming grayer marginally on wing-coverts; wing-quills and their 

 coverts slaty; inner primaries and the secondaries tipped with ochraceous-rufous; a 

 glossy, black or blackish stripe on side of neck anteriorly, continued to bill by indistinct, 

 brownish line; chin and upper throat white; belly and crissum unmarked buffy; remain- 

 ing underparts buffy or whitish, marked with large stripes of mottled ochraceous and 

 dusky. Bill brownish black on ridge of culmen, pale yellow on sides and below; feet 

 and legs yellowish green. Very variable in size. Length 584.2-863.6 (23.00-34.00); 

 wing 282.7 (11. 13); tail 1 10.5 (4.35); bill 82.5 (3.25); tarsus 91.4 (3.60); middle toe and 

 claw 101.1 (3.98). 



Recognition Marks. — Brant size; ochraceous coloration; heavily streaked 

 below; secretive swamp-loving ways; heavy flight; "pumping" and "stake-driving" 

 notes. 



Nesting. — Nest: A platform of grasses or rushes placed on ground in meadow 

 or marsh, or lashed midway of reeds. Eggs: 4 or 5; ovate; cafe au lait, deep yellowish 

 olive-buff, or grayish isabella color. Av. size 48.3 x 36.6 (1.90 x 1.44). Season: 

 Apr. 15-May; one brood. 



General Range. — North America. Breeds from British Columbia, southern 

 Mackenzie, southern Ungava, and Newfoundland south to southern California, Kansas, 

 the Ohio Valley, and North Carolina, and occasionally the Southern States; winters 

 from Virginia, the Ohio Valley, and the western border states south to Cuba and 

 Central America. Casual in Great Britain. 



Distribution in California. — Common resident in suitable localities practically 

 throughout the State. Winters commonly except on the northeastern plateau — 

 numbers probably augmented from the North at this season. 



Authorities. — Gambel (Botaurus minor), Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 2, 

 i., 1849, p. 222 (Los Angeles); Robertson, Bull. Cooper Orn. Club, vol. i., 1899, p. 94 

 (Alamitos; desc. nest and eggs); Chapin, Auk, vol. xxxix., 1922, p. 196 (booming; anat.). 



I WILL make it a possession for the bittern and pools of water, 

 saith the Lord (Isaiah 14:11, A. V.). Nothing presents to the average 

 mind a more vivid picture of desolation than a waste of swampy waters. 



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