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AMERICAN BITTERN 



mity of the toes it measures three feet; the bill is four inches long, 

 the upper mandible black, the lower greenish yellow ; lores and 

 eyelids yellow ; irides bright yellow ; upper part of the head flat, 

 and remarkably deprest ; the plumage there is of a deep blackish 

 brown, long behind and on the neck, the general color of which 

 is a yellowish brown shaded with darker; this long plumage of 

 the neck the bird can throw forward at will, when irritated, so as 

 to give him a more formidable appearance; throat whitish, streak- 

 ed with deep brown ; from the posterior and lower part of the 

 auriculars a broad patch of deep black passes diagonally across 

 the neck, a distinguished characteristic of this species ; the back 

 is deep brown barred and mottled with innumerable specks and 

 streaks of brownish yellow; quills black, with a leaden gloss, and 

 tipt with yellowish brown ; legs and feet yellow, tinged with pale 

 green ; middle claw pectinated ; belly light yellowish brown streak- 

 ed with darker ; vent plain, thighs sprinkled on the outside with 

 grains of dark brown ; male and female nearly alike, the latter 

 somewhat less. According to Bewick, the tail of the European 

 Bittern contains only ten feathers; the American species has in- 

 variably twelve. The intestines measured five feet six inches in 

 length, and were very little thicker than a common knitting-needle; 

 the stomach is usually filled with fish or frogs. 



This bird when fat is considered by many to be excellent 

 eating. 



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