HERON. 07 



61— BITTERN. 



Ardea stellaris, Ind. Orn. ii. 680. Lin. i. 239. Faun. Suec. No. 164. G'm. Lin. i. 635. 



SVoj>. i. No. 125. jBrwn. No. 155. Midler, p. 22. Kramer, 347. PmcA, t. 205. 



Georg-i, p. 171. Sqo/>, p. 74. t. 40. 41. Eau, 100. A. 11. Wi//. 207. f. 50. 52. 



/f/ein, 123. /rf. 5<em. 29. t. 32. a. b. Id. Ov. 34. t. 18. f. 3. Faun. Arag. 70. 



Borowsk. iii. 76. 5. Fa«M. Helvet. Gesner, At), pi. in p. 190. Gerin. iv. f. 432. 



Tern. Man. d'Orn. 374. /d, Ed. ii. p. 581. 

 Botaurus, Bris. v. 444. t. 37. 1. Id. 8vo. ii. 327. 

 Le Butor, Buf. vii. 411. pi. 21. P/. en/. 789. /7wf. Prot). i. 349. 

 Garza bionda, o di color d'oro, Zinnan. Uov. 112. t. 20. f. 100. 

 Garza dorado, Gabin. de Madrid, i. p. 13. lam. 6. 

 Tarabuso, Cett. Uc. Sard. 274. 

 Der Rohrdommel, Bechst. Deutsch. iii. s. 24. Naturf. xiii. p. 208. Schmid, Vog. p. 



105. 1. 100. 

 Bittern, Gen. Syn. v. p. 56. Id. Sap. 234. Id. Sup. ii. 300. Br. Zool. ii. No. 174. 



Id. fol. 711. t. A. 1. Id. 1812. ii. p. 14. Will. Engl. 282. ^/6. i. 68. Bewick, 



ii. pi. p. 47. Hayes's Birds, t. 19i Lewin, iv. pi. 146. /d, pi. xxv. No. 2. — egg. 



Walcot, ii. pi. 127. Pule. Dors. p. 14. Graves's Br. Orn. Orn. Diet. Sf Supp. 



THIS is somewhat less than the Heron ; length two feet and a 

 half. Bill brown, inclining to green beneath; irides yellow ; the 

 head feathers long, and those of the breast loose, and waving ; crown 

 of the head black ; the lower jaw on each side dusky; the plumage 

 in general beautifully varied, spotted, and barred with black ; the 

 ground ferruginous yellow, paler beneath ; legs pale green ; claws 

 long and slender, and the inner edge of the middle claw serrated. 



The female is less, darker coloured, and the feathers on the head 

 and neck less flowing than in the male. 



The Bittern is a common bird in this kingdom, and we believe in 

 most of the temperate parts of the Continent : in some of the colder 

 migratory, but with us it remains the whole year ; frequents marshy 

 places, and especially where reeds grow, among which it makes the 

 nest, in April, chiefly composed of a bed of rushes, &c. : the female 

 lays four or five eggs, of a pale greenish ash-colour; the young are 

 hatched in twenty-five days. Is an indolent bird, stirring very 



VOL. IX. O 



