THE AMEKICAN BITTERN. 
171 
to differ in all respects. The latter is much the smaller species ; 
but they both vary remarkably in size. The toes and claws are 
much smaller in the American bird. The most striking difference 
in its colour is the black stripe on each side of the neck^ which 
in the specimen before me commences one and a half inch below 
the eye_, and extends for three inches^ until, in the shading off of 
the black, the two stripes may be said to meet at the back of the 
neck. The greatest breadth of this stripe is one inch. All the 
feathers of the front and sides of the neck and breast, having (as 
already described) a dark central stripe, give to that portion of the 
plumage a beautifully rich and regularly streaked appearance, 
which is rendered further conspicuous by the entire absence of 
dusky transverse markings, such as appear there in the common 
bittern. The whole dorsal plumage is different, and is much more 
handsome in the American bird than in the other, consisting of 
a beautiful mixture of brown of many shades and rich yellows ; 
and, when the light falls upon it, exhibiting reddish violet reflec- 
tions, reminding us of the same parts in the jack-snipe {Scolopax 
gallinula) ; a species which it likewise resembles in possessing 
similar richly and beautifully coloured scapular feathers. The 
tail-feathers * of the American bird are of a uniform dusky brown 
— those of the European specimen compared with it have more 
or less of a narrow stripe of black towards the centre ; the rest 
being all freckled or mottled with black on a rich buff ground : — 
the quills of the American species are likewise of a uniform co- 
lour, while those of the European are barred alternately with black 
and buff, except at the tips, which are wholly black. Other 
differences might be pointed out, but those mentioned are the 
most striking. Temminck describes ' zigzag'’ markings on the 
upper parts of the plumage, and on the coverts of the wings ; t 
but there are not, in the American bittern before me, any markings 
to which I would apply that term, as there are on the neck and 
wing-coverts of the European bird. 
YarrelFs figure gives a very good general idea of the America, 
bittern ; but in two impressions (1st and ^nd editions) examined 
Tlic tail-coverts are mottled. f Man. d’Orn. de TEur. vol. iv. p. 382. 
