BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
55 
Subfamily BOTAURINiE. Bitteens. 
Genus BOTAURUS Hermann. 
Botaurus lentiginosUs (Montau.). 
> 
American Bittern ; Indian Hen. 
Description {Plate 5 ) . 
Adult. — Bill yellowish, dusky on ridge, lores greenish yellow ; legs and feet yel- 
lowish-green ; iris yellow. Length, about 26 inches ; extent, about 45 inches. Gen- 
eral color brownish-yellow, top of head dull brown, upper parts finely freckled and 
variegated with different shades of brown, blackish and whitish ; chin and throat 
white with brown streak ; a broad and glossy-black stripe about three inches long 
on upper part of neck. 
Habitat. — Temperate North America, south to Guatemala and the West Indies. 
The Bittern or “ Green-legg-ed Crane,” as this wader is called by many 
sportsmen, is readily distinguished from other birds of the family by its 
brownish-yellow plumage, greenish-colored legs, and large size. It is a 
summer resident in Pennsylvania, where it arrives generally early in 
April and remains until about the first week in November. Although 
these birds breed, occasionally at least, in different parts of the state, 
they are much more frequently met with (singly or in pairs) when mi- 
grating in the spring and fall, than in summer. In this locality these 
birds are never found in flocks ; commonly only solitary individuals are 
seen frequenting chiefly the thick swampy districts about meadows and 
rivers. During the daylight Bitterns conceal themselves in the long 
grasses, weeds, bushes, etc., growing about swamps. They migrate and 
feed during the night. 
Mr. George B. Sennett, Erie, Pa., says, he is quite certain this species 
breeds occasionally on the peninsula, near Erie city ; also at Conneaut 
Lake, Lake Pleasant and Oil Creek Lake, in Crawford county. Mr. W. 
H. Buller, residing at Marietta, Lancaster county. Pa., in a letter dated 
July 29, 1889, addressed to me, writes as follows : “ I am inclined to 
believe that the American Bittern breeds in the vicinity of Schock’s 
Mills, a few miles west of Marietta. While I have never found its nest 
or seen its young, yet I have so frequently seen the bird in that vicinity 
during the summer that I think it probable that it breeds in the swamps 
there.” Dr. George B, Boss, of Lebanon, Pa., states that it breeds in 
Lebanon county. In Perry county, Mr. H. Justin Boddy, Millersville, 
Pa., has observed it as a “ rare breeder.” Mr. J. F. Kocher, of South 
Whitehall, Pa., says the Bittern is occasionally found breeding in Le- 
high county, and Dr. Walter Yan Fleet of Benovo, Pa., mentions it as 
breeding occasionally and sparingly in Clinton county. 
The nest of this bird is placed on the ground ; the eggs, three to five 
in number — three is said to be the usual number — are described as 
brownish-drab, unspotted, measuring about 2 inches long by about 
inches broad. 
