B ota u r u s s t e l l a r is (Linnaeus*).
THE COMMON BITTERN.
Botaurus stellaris.
Botaueiis, Stephens-^. Beak rather longer than the head, strong, higher
than broad, the mandibles of equal length, upper mandible curved downwards
Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal, lodged in a furrow, and partly
covered by a naked membrane. Legs of mean length, tarsi scutellate ; toes long,
and s ender, all unequal, the middle toe as long as the tarsus ; hind toe long,
articulated with the interior toe, and on the same plane : claws long, that of the
mi die toe pectinated. Wing long, rather rounded, the first three quill-feathers
the longest, and nearly equal. Tail of ten soft feathers.
Ardea stellaris, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 239 (1766).
t Shaw's General Zoology, xi. ji. 592 (1819).
Formerly, -when large portions of the British Islands
were uncultivated, and extensive marshes and waste land
afforded the Bittern abundance of retreats congenial to its
habits, it was plentifully distributed over the country; but
as cultivation has extended, and the marshes have been
drained, its numbers have gradually decreased, and although
not absolutely a rare bird, its presence is not always to be
reckoned upon, for in one year it may be tolerably common,
and then for several succeeding seasons scarcely to be procured
at all. In proof of the correctness of these remarks,
Selby observes that at the present day the capture of a
Bittern is, in many parts of England, a subject of great
interest; yet in the winter of 1830-SI, he was credibly informed
that no less than ten were exposed for sale in one
morning at Bath. In the same season, according to Mr.
W. E. Clarke, about sixty example's were obtained in Yorkshire
; and Heysham, of Carlisle, has recorded that during
the months of December, 1831, and January and February,
1882, eight specimens of the Bittern were killed in that
part of Cumberland ; which was the more remarkable, as
only a single specimen had been met with in the same
district for ten or twelve years previous. Thompson says
that in the winter of 1830-31 Bitterns were unusually
numerous in Ireland. Allis, of York, sent the Author word
that in the winter of 1837 a bird-preserver in Bath had a
dozen Bitterns through his hands in a comparatively short
space of time. In subsequent years similar arrivals have
been noted ; and it may be taken as a rule that severe
weather on the Continent will be followed by the apparition
of this species in some numbers. In the winters of 1863-4,
1867, and 1874-5 there were large immigrations. Of
Lincolnshire Mr. Cordeaux writes to the Editor:—“ I have
talked to old men who have assured me they have frequently
heard the ‘ butter-bumps ’ [a well-known onomatopoetic name
for the Bittern], booming in the low grounds in this parish
(Great Cotes) at the beginning of this century. Sir Charles
H. T. Anderson wrote me (Jan. 4, 1875): ‘ A Bittern killed
itself in Lea parish in 1814 flying against a tree in a fog ;