THE AMBEICAN BITTERN. 
169 
received the following information : — ' It was shot by my second 
son Wm. E. Eobinson^, about noon^ on the 12th of November 
lastj in a bog — part of a dat^ partially drained tract called Llayde 
Bottoms — surrounded by hills,, and a mile from Armagh. It was 
put up in sedge, seemed lazy, and flew heavily, not shov»^ing the 
usual wariness of the bittern, but letting him come rather close 
before it rose. Its stomach was empty ; but it was very fat and 
very good eating, for we roasted it ! The sex was, unfortunately, 
not noted. The glottis was peculiar, so that I suppose it must- 
have had the powerful voice of the common species.'’ Dr. Eobin- 
son, on being informed that it was the American bittern, most 
liberally presented the bird to the Belfast Museum. As bearing 
on the points touched upon in this letter, it may be observed that 
Audubon never saw one of them fly farther than thirty or forty 
yards at a time ; and on such occasions their movements were so 
sluggish as to give opportunities of easily shooting them ; for (as 
he remarks) they generally rise within a few yards of you, and fly 
off very slowly in a direct course.'’ (Orn. Biog. vol. iv. p. 297.) 
Wilson states that it ^ is considered by many to be excellent eat- 
ing / — and that the American bird ‘'has nothing of that loud 
booming sound for which the European bittern is so remarkable. 
Audubon has not himself heard its notes, but gives the observa- 
tions of two well-known naturalists upon them. Dr. Eichardson 
states that ‘ its loud booming, exactly resembling that of the 
common bittern of Europe, may be heard every summer evening, 
and frequently during the day.W 
Judging from these works, this bird takes the place in North 
America of the common bittern in Europe ; but is much more 
frequent there than the latter is now in any part of the British 
Islands. Audubon informs us that in winter it is ^ common in 
the markets of New Orleans, and bought by the poorer classes to 
make gombo soup.'’ 
“ The Prince of Canino, in his ^ Comparative List of the Birds 
* Jardinc’s edit. Wils. Amer. Orn. vol. iii. p. 57. 
+ Fauna Bor. Amer. p. 374. 
