m ARDEID.E.
So many examples of the Little Bittern have now been
taken in various parts of this country, that a brief enumeration
only will .be neeessary. Montagu, mentions that • one
was shot from the .stump bf à tree on the bank of the Avon,
near Bath ; and H. E . Strickland, Esq. sent me.notice of one
that was. shot in the spring of 1888, at Shobden . Court, 4n
Herefordshire ; ànd this bird has also been killed in Shrop*
shire, and in South Wales. I t has been killed in Cornwall,
and several times in ëDevonshire. One has been..reoorded-as
having been killed at Lytchet; in Dorsetshire,"'and^onev is
also recorded to have, been killed near Christchurch in Hamp-^
shire. Berkshire has been named as^rhducing 'one j . and
specimen in my own collection was killed, some years .since "on
Uxbridge Moor in Middlesex. In Norfolk sèveral! specimens,
havé been obtained. The figuré, at the hd4d of this
subject was drawn from a very fine specimen in the> cbllec-
tion of Dr. Thackeray, at King’s. College, Cambridge"-; -a
specimesn has been killed in Yorkshire, -another at th&#oùth
of the Tyne, and another in Northumberland, now in thé
collection which belonged to the late Sir M. W\ Ridley,
Bart. From this last-mentioned bird Bewick’s -figure of thé
adult Little Bittèrnwas taken. Dr. Fleming mentions one
that was shot at. Sanda, in Orkney ; and Mr. William
Thompson, ; in his recorded notes of the 'birds of Ireland,
mentions that a Little Bittern, shot in the county of Armagh,
is preserved in the cabinet ..of William Sinclair, Esq.
of Belfast, Specimens have also been obtained in the east
and south of Ireland_
The Little Bittern has been, killed as far north as Sweden.
I t occurs occasionally in Germany, is rather common in Hot1
land, and is found in France, Provence, and Italy. I t is
seen at Genoa..on its passage northward ; and M. Necker says
that it is annually observed in Switzerland, where some' few
stop to breed-. The specimen from which Edwards drew the
L IT T L E B IT T ERN . 473
figure in'his Gleanings came from Aleppo ; it inhabits Arabia,
vand M. Hohehaeker, the Russian naturalist, includes the
Little Bittern among the birds found in the countries of the
Caucasus,- between the Black anddhé Caspian Seas.
In the adult f e d ; 1 the beak-, lore, and irides, are yellow;
the top of the head, th e^ e ip u t,. the; shoulders, the wing-
primaÉéSy and' the tail-feathèfëf are'of a shining bluish black ;
all the wing-cbVèrtS. Wuff thePclï^eks' and sides of
the nfeik, throughout its* whofe1 length,' buff -; the back of the
®eM: is almost have in the Bitteiés, but the feathers of the
iilès- of the neck passiüg'fpbliq'uèly backwards and downwards
hide the almost naked spiièe; the ëhin and the neck in front
white, partially tinged-with buff; tbe feathers at the bottom
i t the nWk in front are elongated; but the’ Bitterns have no'
trU§1J)<c’cipital plume, or elongated fea-theks, on the back, like
the Hèrons ; on the lower part' of the -ïi-eêk on each side, just
in-*adivance of the carpal jo in t^ -fh e wing^when the wing is
closed, a~few of the feathers have dark centres with buff-co-
lóured margins; breast, féÜyl thigtói*>nd under tail-coverts,
buff, with-a small patch of the vent; ónder wing-
CQverts and the axillary plume pale bufL; the legs, toes, and
claws greenish yellow-.
Males and females, when adult, are alike in plumage. .
The whole length about thirteen inches* From the carpal,
’ joint to the end of thé wln§flfiv& fe fe l* and three-quarters ;
the firsMhree quill-feathers very nearly equal in length, and
the longest in the wing.
A young bird in its first plumage, but with some down still
remaining upon it, has the top bf the head of dark brown;
the feathers of the neck white at the base, pale yellow brown
towards the end, with a streak of dark brown in the line of
the shaft; the feathers of the back dark brpwn, with buff-
coloured edges; the wing-primaries and tail-feathers greyish
black ; the outer wéb of the first quill-feather chestnut ; the