58 
AMERICAN BITTERN. 
four inches long ; the upper mandible, black; the lower, green- 
ish yellow ; lores and eyelids, yellow ; irides, bright yellow ; 
upper part of the head, flat, and remarkably depressed ; the 
plumage there is of a deep blackish brown, long behind and on 
the neck, the general colour of which is a yellowish brown 
shaded with darker ; this long plumage of the neck the bird 
can throw forward at will, when irritated, so as to give him a 
more formidable appearance; throat, whitish, streaked with 
deep brown ; from the posterior and lower part of the auricu- 
lars, a broad patch of deep black passes diagonally across the 
neck, a distinguished characteristic of this species ; the back is 
deep brown, barred, and mottled with innumerable specks and 
streaks of brownish yellow ; quills, black, with a leaden gloss, 
and tipt with yellowish brown ; legs and feet, yellow, tinged 
with pale green ; middle claw, pectinated ; belly, light yellow- 
ish brown, streaked with darker ; vent, plain; thighs, sprinkled 
on the outside with grains of dark brown ; male and female, 
nearly alike, the latter somewhat less. According to Bewick, 
the tail of the European bittern contains only ten feathers ; 
the American species has, invariably, twelve. The intestines 
measured five feet six inches in length, and were very little 
thicker than a common knitting needle ; the stomach is usually 
filled with fish or frogs.^ 
This bird, when fat, is considered by many to be excellent 
eating. ' 
* I have taken an entire water-rail from the stomach of the European bittern. 
— En. 
