REMARKS ON THE BITTERNS. 
75 
them to do at an unexpected distance. Sir W. Jardine thus popularly describes 
the mechanism by which this is effected. He is speaking of the genus Plotus 
(or Harter), the members of which, he states, “ among the Pelecanidce , exhibit 
the extreme structure in the power of darting and suddenly again withdrawing 
the head. The Cormorants and Herons possess this power to a great extent; 
and they all possess a peculiar bend of the neck, observed in certain circum¬ 
stances of the bird’s economy, and into which that part at once puts itself when 
the bird is dead. This is produced chiefly by the action of two muscles; the 
one inserted within the cavity of the breast, and running up with a long tendon 
to the vertebra beneath the bend, the other inserted in the joint above the bend, 
and running far down with another slender tendon. The action of these two 
powers, united by the muscles of the back part, produces the peculiar angular 
bend, and enables the head to be thrown forward with great force. The effect 
may be easily seen, and produced, by a jointed stick having cords affixed, and 
acted on in this way.” 
The Camel, and some other Mammalians, lower the neck to browse, and 
then suddenly raise it again , by an analogous mechanism. The duplicature of 
the neck of the Heron should be a great deal more studied than it is by those 
who undertake to preserve specimens of this tribe of birds. The lowermost 
portion of it is directed downward over the breast, and is devoid of plumage ; 
so that the lengthened feathers of the fore-neck, which, while at ease, the bird 
frequently allows to droop, when drawn up close appear to be continuous with 
those of the breast: the bare hind-part of the neck, also, doubles back upon 
itself, the plumage of the fore-part closing over and quite concealing the dupli¬ 
cature in the majority of species : and lastly, the long and spear-shaped bill, 
with the head, completes the figure of an S , and in the Spoonbills, Storks, and 
Ibises, the beak is ordinarily rested on the fore-neck, in the Storks very com¬ 
monly pointing perpendicularly downward. The trachea, in one part of its 
course, proceeds along the back of the neck. Stuffers most frequently err in not 
making the lower extremity of the neck bend downward, so much as it ought to 
do, close over the breast. 
White, of Selborne, and other writers, who assert that these birds retract 
the neck, when flying, and extend the legs, for the purpose of counteracting the 
forward tendency of the body, should have remembered that the muscles of the 
neck attain their equilibrium when in this position, which, consequently, is 
simply that of rest. When a Heron or Bittern rises, I have noticed that this is 
ordinarily done in a sluggish manner, with the neck often extended, as the bird 
surveys the tract of ground over which he passes, and the legs drooping; forcibly 
recalling to mind the unwilling flight of a Rail or Gallinule; after a while, 
however, if nothing tempts him to alight, he contracts the neck, and, stretching 
VOL. III.—NO. XVII. M 
