LITTLE MANGROVE-BITTERN. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male but smaller. Bill : upper mandible and 
tomium of lower mandible black, remainder of lower mandible olive-grey ; iris 
yellow, upper portion of lores yellow, remainder brown tinged with yellow ; 
tarsi and feet olive-yellow. 
Immature. Distinguished from the adult by the ochreous margins to the upper wing- 
coverts, the cheeks and sides of the upper-neck streaked with brown, and the 
feathers on the throat darker and inchning to blackish. 
Hest. A strong platform built of stout twigs, with a slight depression in the centre. 
Dimensions outside 13| in. by 9 by 5 deep. Depth of depression 1 in. 
Eggs. Clutch, two ; uniform pale green ; axis 40 mm., diameter 31. 
Breeding-season. December ; January ; February. 
Mr. J. P. Rogers, writing from North-west Australia, says : “A few of 
these birds frequent the patch of mangroves where I found the nest. 
When watching the nest to get the parents I was surprised to see the bird 
alight within ten yards of me. It climbed amongst the roots of the 
mangroves, going up and down the sloping roots easily, until it had 
examined me thoroughly, then went off to the nest, jumping from root to 
root, using its wings if the distance was rather far. On reaching the tree 
■v 
the nest was in, it climbed the roots, and from the topmost one, about 
six feet from the ground, it jumped into the lowest branch, and from there 
on up to the nest. All the time its tail was flicked in exactly the same 
manner as that of a Porpliyrio neomelanotus. The full clutch was two eggs, 
and the nest was placed in a red mangrove tree, about twelve feet from 
the ground. The nest was placed on a horizontal three-pronged fork of a 
small tree growing on the outer edge of a patch of the largest mangroves 
I have ever seen, the trunks of which were ten or twelve inches through 
and about fifty feet high, the trunks being perfectly straight.” 
Mr. Tom Carter reports that “ this bird occurs rather sparingly in 
mangroves, from the North West Cape to Sharks Bay. It is very shy and 
skulking in its habits. When suddenly disturbed it will adopt the rigid 
position of Bitterns, with body and neck elongated to the utmost capacity, 
and the bill pointed vertically up. When in this position it is easity 
overlooked. When forced to take wing it flies swiftly to another patch of 
mangroves, uttering a harsh and loud cry.” 
The bird figured and described is a male, collected at Point Torment, 
North-west Australia, on January 14th, 1911, by Mr. J. P. Rogers. 
1 have decided to adopt as the species-name, that given by 
Linne {Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 144, 1758) to a South American bird, 
viz. Ardea striata. The Australian birds agree in general structure and 
coloration throughout with the American, passing through exactly the same 
plumage-changes. 
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