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ARDEINJE. BOTAURTJS. 
broad, somewhat rounded ; tail short, of twelve or ten 
weak feathers. 
The Ardeinse are essentially piscivorous, but also feed 
on Crustacea, mollusca, worms, insects, occasionally rep- 
tiles, small quadrupeds, and young birds. They walk 
sedately, often gracefully, wade into shallow water, seize 
their prey with a sudden jerk of the head, and generally 
swallow it entire. Their voice is a harsh grating scream, 
or a guttural croak. They nestle on the ground, or on 
trees, often in large communities, and lay from two to 
five eggs of a light greenish-blue colour. Species occur 
in all countries, but are more numerous toward the equa- ; 
tor. Only one is common in Britain, but eleven others ! 
occur there, most of them as accidental or occasional 
visitants. 
GENUS CXIII. BOTAURUS. BITTERN. 
The Bitterns are generally distinguishable by the ex- 1 
treme compression of their body ; their shorter legs, and 
proportionally longer claws ; the great elongation of the fea- 
thers of the neck, which is bare behind in nearly its whole 
length ; their oblong, extremely compressed head, and very 
slender, straight bill. The latter is longer than the head, 
compressed, tapering to a fine point ; the upper mandible 
with the dorsal line almost straight, the ridge flattened for 
a short space, then narrow, the nasal groove deep, and ex- 
tending to near the end, the sides convex, the edges sharp, 
serrulate, with a notch close to the acute top ; lower mandible 
with the angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal 
line almost straight and slightly ascending, the sides slightly 
concave and nearly erect, the tip acuminate ; the gape-line 
straight, unless at the base. Tongue long, slender, trigonal ; 
oesophagus very wide ; stomach roundish, with the walls very 
thin, and a round pyloric lobe ; intestine long, narrow ; an 
oblong coecal head ; cloaca globular. Nostrils linear. Eyes 
large. Aperture of ear rather small. Legs of moderate 
length ; tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus with very broad 
