18 
LITTLE BITTERN HERON. Ciass IL 
4, Littiz, Ardea minuta. A. capite le- Ardea vertice dorsoque nigris, 
DeEscrip- 
TION. 
vi, vertice dorso remigibus collo antice et alarum tec- 
rectricibusque nigro-vires- tricibus lutescentibus. (Stau- 
centibus, collo tectricibus den Ragerl, Kleine Moos- 
alaruam abdomineque pal- skuh.) Kram. 348. 
lide fulvis. (Mas). Lath. Boonk or long Neck. Shaw's 
Ind. orn. 683. id. Syn. v. Travels, 255. 
65. id. Sup. 1.235. Ardea minuta. Gm. Lin. 646. 
Ardeola (le Blongios). Bris- Kleiner Rohrdommel. Frisch, 
son av.v. 497. tab. 40. fig. ii. 206, 207. 
1. Hist. ois. vii. 395. Pl. Edw. av. 275.' 
Enl. 323. Arct. Zool. ii. 154. 
Tuts species was shot as it perched on one 
of the trees in the Quarry or public walks in 
Shrewsbury, on the banks of the Severn ; it. is 
frequent in many other parts of Europe, but 
the only one we ever heard of in England.* 
The. length to the tip of the tail was fifteen. 
inches, to the end of the toe twenty. The bill 
to the corners of the mouth was two inches and 
a half long, dusky at the point, the sides yellow, 
the edge jagged; the bulk of the body not 
larger than that of a fieldfare. ‘The top of the 
head, the back, and tail, were black, glossed 
with an obscure green; the neck very long, the 
* Three other instances are mentioned of its being shot in 
England; one on Bere river, another at Upton, and a third at 
Lyichet. Is said to be common near Aleppo, and to be found 
in India, and New Holland. J. L. 
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