ARDEIDvE — THE HERONS — ARDETTA. 
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European species. This is a mistake. The cry of our bird is one quite as remarkable, 
though said by some writers — but not by Richardson — to be quite different. Dur- 
ing my residence in Cambridge, in the spring and early summer, its singular, resonant 
cries could be heard at quite a distance, issuing from the Fresh Pond meadows early 
in the evening, and even on cloudy days. They seemed to be uttered in a deep chok- 
ing tone, and have been well compared to the syllables pomp-uu-gor. Dr. Bachman 
describes it as a hoarse croaking note, sounding as if the bird’s throat were filled with 
water. By many these sounds are thought closely to resemble the noise made by 
driving a stake in boggy soil ; and hence the Bittern is popularly known as the 
“ Stake-driver,” and also as the “ Post-driver.” 
It is an occasional visitant to Great Britain, where some five or six instances of its 
capture have been recorded. 
According to the. observations of Captain Bendire, the number of eggs in its nest 
varies from five to seven. I have never met with more than four. Eggs in my col- 
lection (No. 783), procured by Mr. Kumlien in Wisconsin, are of a rounded oval 
shape equally obtuse at either end, and of a uniform brownish-drab color, neither 
spotted nor having any tinge of green or olive in their shadings, as stated by some 
writers. They range from 1.90 to 1.95 inches in length, and from 1.45 to 1.50 in 
breadth. These eggs vary but little in size, shape, or color, and are hardly “ pointed 
at one end,” as described by Yarrell. 
Genus ARDETTA, Gray. 
Ardeola, Bonap. Synopsis, 1828 (teste Guay, Gen. k Subg. 1855, 113). Type, Ardca cxilis, 
Gmel. (Not of Boie, 1822 !) 
Ardctta, Gray, List of Genera, App. 1842, 13. Type, Ardca minuta, Linn. 
Erodiscus, Glogeii, Handb. I. 1842, 410 (same type). 
“ Ardciralla" (1855), Yeriieaux (teste Haiitl. Orn. Westafr. p. 224). Type, Ardca Sturmi, AY act.. 
Gen. Char. Extremely small (the smallest of) Herons, or miniature Bitterns ; differing from 
the true Bitterns chiefly in their diminutive size, and in the fact that the sexes differ in color . 1 
A . exilis. 
1 VVe can find no other difference in form or proportions between Botaurus and Ardctta. In the sexed 
specimens of A. involucris which we have been able to examine there ‘is no sexual difference of plumage. 
The sex of the single supposed female, however, may have been incorrectly determined. 
