THE LEAST BITTERN. 103 



At Galveston Island, on the 26th April, we saw many individuals of this 

 species. 



Least Bittern, Ardea exilis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. viii. p. 37. 



Ardea exilis, Bonap. Syn., p. 308. 



Least Bittern, Ardea exilis, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 66. 



Least Bittern, Ardea exilis, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 77; vol. v. p. 606. 



Male, 13|, 17|. Female, 12, wing 4|. 



Resident in Florida. Migrates in spring eastward as far as Maine, and 

 throughout the Western Country, far up the Missouri. Retires southward 

 in winter. Texas. 



Adult Male. 



Bill longer than the head, slender, straight, tapering to a point, deeper 

 than broad at the base, compressed towards the end. Upper mandible with 

 its dorsal line almost straight, the ridge broad and rather rounded at the 

 base, narrowed towards the end, the sides sloping, the edges very sharp, the 

 tip acute. Nasal groove long; nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal. Lower 

 mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line sloping 

 upwards, the sides nearly flat, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip very 

 acute. 



Head oblong, much compressed. Neck long. Body very slender, much 

 compressed. Feet long, rather robust; tibia nearly entirely feathered; tarsi 

 covered anteriorly with broad oblique scutella; toes scutellate above; hind 

 toe stout, second and fourth nearly equal, third much longer; claws long, 

 slender, arched, compressed, acute, that of middle toe serrated on the inner 

 edge. 



Eyelids and a large space before and beneath the eye, bare. Plumage 

 soft, blended; feathers of the hind head elongated, as are those of the neck 

 generally, but especially of its lower part anteriorly. Wings short, broad, 

 rounded, the second quill longest. Tail very short, rounded, of twelve 

 feathers. 



Bill dark olive-brown above, edges of upper mandible and bare frontal 

 space yellow; lower mandible pale yellow, inclining to flesh colour. Iris 

 yellow. Feet dull greenish-yellow, claws brown. Upper part of the head, 

 and the back, greenish-black and glossy; sides of the head and hind part of 

 neck brownish-red or light chestnut; wing-coverts pale greyish-brown, 

 quills purplish-grey, tipped with yellowish-brown, the inner secondaries 

 broadly margined with light chestnut, of which colour also are the secondary 

 coverts and the edge of the wing at the flexure; the tail greenish-black. 

 The throat and fore neck are reddish-white; the rest of the lower parts are 



