16 
BITTERN HERON. Crass Il. 
Desertr- some of the literati of Arles, in which neigh- 
TION. 
bourhood Pliny says the bird was found.* 
In size the bittern is inferior to the heron; 
the bill is weaker, and only four inches long; 
the upper mandible a little arched; the edges 
of the lower jagged; the rictus or gape is so 
wide, that the eyes seem placed in the bill; 
the irides are, next the pupil yellow, above the 
yellow they incline to hazel; the ears are large 
and open. The crown of the head is black; the 
feathers on the hind part form a sort of short 
pendent crest ; at each corner of the mouth is a 
black spot ; the plumage of this bird is of a very 
pale dull. yellow, spotted, barred, or striped 
with black; the bastard wing, the greater co- 
verts of the wings, and the quil feathers are of 
a bright ferruginous color, regularly marked 
with black bars; the lower belly is of a whitish 
yellow ; the tail is very short, and consists of 
only ten feathers. ‘The feathers on the breast 
are very long, and hang loose; the legs are of 
a pale green. All the claws are long and slen- 
der; the inner side of the middle claw finely 
serrated to hold its prey the better; its hind 
claw is remarkably long, and being a supposed 
preservative for the teeth, is sometimes set in 
silver, and used as a tooth-pick. 
* Plin. Lib. x. c. 42. 
