146 
COMMON BITTERN. 
one gentleman assert, that a heron, if leapt a proper 
time , was excellent eating. 
A specimen of a male Bittern, shot in winter, 
in the vicinity of Jardine-Hall, has the crown and 
occiput deep brownish-hlack, with green and purple 
reflections ; the feathers on the occiput elongated, 
tipped for half an inch with ocliraceous, and there 
minutely edged with black; under the eye, from each 
rictus, descends a streak of rich and deep brown ; 
the centre of the throat is of a paler brown, and 
between, the tint of the sides of the neck is yellow- 
ish-white ; the feathers of the sides of the neck are 
lengthened, and fold over the back part, which is 
covered only with a thick down ; these can also be 
thrown forward, and are sometimes made to appear 
as a ruff. The whole ground colour of the plumage 
is a pale sienna-yellow, the tint slightly varying in 
different specimens, and being of a redder colour on 
the shoulders, quills, and tail ; this ground colour is 
varied, and rayed in such a manner as to be very 
difficult to convey by words ; on the back, being 
confined to the centre of the feathers, it assumes the 
form of downward broad lines; but on the sides of 
the neck, breast, and flanks, it runs in transverse 
bars and crossings. On the fore part of the breast 
and neck, where the feathers are lengthened, the 
one half is hrown, the other without markings, 
which produces to a certain extent the same ap- 
pearance we saw in the true herons. In the Bittern, 
about three quarters of an inch of the tibiae is free 
from feathers, and the proportional development of 
