38 
1868. 
Aug, 11. 
1875. 
May 27. 
June 10, 
July 13. 
July 28. 
Ardotta exilis. 
Middlesex County, Mass. 
Shot an adult male in the Fresh Pond marshes ne ar 
Block Island. It flev/ like a Green Heron with the neck 
extended, the logs stretched out behind, and alighting 
in the top of some bulrushes clung to their tall stems. 
Its varied colors made it very conspicuous while flying. 
While VTading nearly up to my v/aiste in water in the 
Fresh Pond swamps I started a Least Bittern from a clus¬ 
ter of water plants. Topping the surrounding alders it 
disappeared; following it I came upon it perched upon a 
lov;' bush over the water; with a feeble flutter it tried 
to fly, but apparently finding the twigs too thick re¬ 
sumed its perch balancing itself on a slender branch with 
seeming difficulty. I shot it and found it to be a 
female which was evidently laying. A bream distended 
its slender nect most noticeably; this fish was q uite 
fresh and evidently just swallowed. I examined it 
carefully but failed to find the slightest scratch, 
or other mark of the Bittern’s bill. Hence I infer • 
this species .p,lcks ^ its prey instead of piercing it. 
Started an adult male from the top of a water willow; 
after flying a few rods he alighted in atall bush. 
As I cautiously aproached he peeped at mo curiously with 
outstretched neck and deliberately walked out along the 
branch precisely in the manner of the Green Heron. Upon 
shooting him I found his stomach ernptyi He was proba¬ 
bly the mate of the female shot May 27, 
Shot a male in the Brickyard Swamp. It alighted in 
a bush whore it sat peering at me with outstretched nock 
withdrawing its head behind the leaves wherever I made a 
sudden movement. It was in perfect plumage. The stc«n- 
ach was crammed with small silvorly minnows about two in¬ 
ches in length. Shortly afterwards I saw another male 
flying high over the swamp with legs drawn up behind, 
proceeding on the leisurely manner characteristic of most 
Herons. Still a third rose some fifty yards off utter¬ 
ing a loud .ca^-c^-e_a-ca as it started and continuing this 
cry for sometime in the top of a thick alder where it 
alighted. The actions of this bird convinced me that 
she had either eggs or young in the vicinity. She was 
exceedingly shy, taking short flights but always keepint 
put of range, and uttering her note at frequent intervals. 
She flew quite strongly, although the flight of this spe¬ 
cies seems to bo usually fieble and flickering. 
Started throe from low bushes on the odge of pond- 
holes, in the Brickyard Swamp, and shot two of them, one 
an adult male, the other a young bird just on wing and 
evidently one of the brood I hoard calling hero a week or 
two ago. This latter specimen fell wounded into the 
water, when it quickly paddled ashore and attempted to 
