THE LEAST BITTERN. 
103 
At Galveston Island, on the 26th April, we saw many individuals of this 
species. 
Least Bittern, Ardea exilis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. viii. p. 37. 
Ardea exilis, Bonap. Syn., p. 308. 
Least Bittern, Ardea exilis , Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 66. 
Least Bittern, Ardea exilis , Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 77 ; vol. v. p. 606. 
Male, 13A, 171. Female, 12, wing 43. 
Resident in Florida. Migrates in spring eastward as far as Maine, and 
throughout the Western Country, far up the Missouri. Retires southward 
in winter. Texas. 
Adult Male. 
Bill longer than the head, slender, straight, tapering to a point, deeper 
than broad at the base, compressed towards the end. Upper mandible with 
its dorsal line almost straight, the ridge broad and rather rounded at the 
base, narrowed towards the end, the sides sloping, the edges very sharp, the 
tip acute. Nasal groove long ; nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal. Lower 
mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line sloping 
upwards, the sides nearly flat, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip very 
acute. 
Head oblong, much compressed. Neck long. Body very slender, much 
compressed. Feet long, rather robust ; tibia nearly entirely feathered ; 
tarsi covered anteriorly with broad oblique scutella ; toes scutellate above ; 
hind toe stout, second and fourth nearly equal, third much longer ; claws 
long, slender, arched, compressed, acute, that of middle toe serrated on the 
inner edge. % 
Eyelids and a large space before and beneath the eye, bare. Plumage 
soft, blended ; feathers of the hind head elongated, as are those of the neck 
generally, but especially of its lower part anteriorly. Wings short, broad, 
rounded, the second quill longest. Tail very short, rounded, of twelve 
feathers. 
Bill dark olive-brown above, edges of upper mandible and bare frontal 
space yellow ; lower mandible pale yellow, inclining to flesh colour. Iris 
yellow. Feet dull greenish-yellow, claws brown. Upper part of the head, 
and the back, greenish-black and glossy ; sides of the head and hind part 
of neck brownish-red or light chestnut ; wing-coverts pale greyish-brown, 
quills purplish-grey, tipped with yellowish-brown, the inner secondaries 
broadly margined with light chestnut, of which colour also are the secondary 
coverts and the edge of the wing at the flexure ; the tail greenish-black. 
The throat and fore neck are reddish-white ; the rest of the lower parts are 
