214 ARDEIDAE.
time making a collection of birds. The specimen was quite
fresh when it arrived at Penryn, where it was preserved;
but the sex was not noted. When Colonel George disposed
of his collection, this bird was bought for Montagu, and was
afterwards, with his other birds, transferred to the British
Museum, where it is still preserved. Montagu distinguished
it as a new species, naming it Ardea lentiginosa, ‘ The
Freckled Heron,’ and as such it is figured in the Supplement
to his Ornithological Dictionary (1813). The following
year the species received the name of Ardea minor from
Alexander Wilson.
In Devonshire, a specimen which no longer exists, but
which was recorded as “ exactly corresponding with Montagu’s
description,” was in the collection of the late Dr.
Moore, and was obtained near Plymouth on the 22nd
December, 1829; and in October, 1876, one was shot near
Parracombe, North Devon (Zool. s.s. p. 4720). A bird
was shot in Hampshire in February, 1876 (c The Field,’
10th March, 1877). In Sussex, one, obtained in Pevensey
Marshes, on the 26tli November, 1867 (Zool. s.s. p. 1098),
is now in the collection of Sir John Crewe ; and one killed at
Amberley on the 30th November, 1883, is in the collection
of Mr. W. Borrer (Zool. 1884, p. 68). As regards Kent,
one killed near Canterbury, about 1854, has been identified
by Mr. J. H. Gurney (Zool. s.s. p. 145). On the eastern
side of England one shot at Slingsby, near Malton, on the
4th December, 1871, is in the collection of Sir John Crewe
(Clarke, Yorks. Yertebs. p. 51) ; and one was killed near
Northallerton, on the 27tli October, 1882 (Zool. 1884,
p. 177). On the west side, one, examined in the flesh by
Mr. Gurney, was secured in Anglesea in 1851 (Zool. s.s.
p. 145); and one, identified by Mr. Cecil Smith, was killed
in October, 1872, at St. David’s, Pembrokeshire (Zool.
1883, p. 341). In Lancashire, a male, described by Mr.
Cooper (Zool. p. 1245), was shot at Fleetwood, on the 8th
December, 1845; and a bird believed to be of this species
is recorded by Mr. J. K. Wallace, in the Isle of Man.
In Scotland, an American Bittern was obtained by the
AMERICAN BITTERN. 215
late Sir William Jardine towards the end of October, 1844,
in Dumfriesshire; and in the same county another, now in
the collection of Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., on the 25th March,
1873 (Zool. s.s. p. 4929). Mr. R. Gray states that a female
example, now in the Aberdeen University Museum, was shot
near the Bridge of Don, in November 1854 ; and in the
autumn of 1862 one was killed at Latheron-wheel, Caithness,
by Mr. F. S. Bentley Innes. About the year 1861, one, in
the collection of Mr. Charles Cowan, of Logan House, was
shot in the Pentland Hills (Field, 4th March, 1871). In
Islay one was obtained in January 1876 (Zool. s.s. p. 4801).
In Ireland, the first occurrence is that recorded by Thompson,
near Armagh, on the 12th November, 1845, and this
specimen is now in the Belfast Museum. A female shot on
the river Fane, on the borders of Louth and Monaghan, on
the 18tli November, 1868, and sent to Lord Clermont in the
flesh (Zool. s.s. p. 1517), is now in the Museum of Science
and Art, Dublin. On the 1st November, 1883, a male was
shot near Ballynahincli, co. Down (‘ The Field,’ 10th Nov.
1883). One was obtained near Cahir, co. Tipperary, on the
31st October, 1870 (Zool. s.s. p. 2408) ; and Dr. Harvey
states that one, shot near Kinsale, co. Cork, on the 25th
November, 1875, is in his own collection, and one, obtained
early in October of the same year, near Myross Wood, in
the west of co. Cork, is in the collection of Mr. H. P.
Townsend, of Derry, Ross Carberry (‘ The Field,’ 18th
December, 1875).
An American Bittern was shot in Guernsey on the 27tli
October, 1870, and recorded by Mr. Cecil Smith, in whose
collection it now is ; but up to the present time there is no
authentic instance of the occurrence of this species on the
Continent of Europe. The greater part of the trade across
the North Atlantic is to the British Islands, which are the
nearest land, and there can be little doubt that many of
these immigrants have received assistance on their passage,
by being able to repose on the spars of vessels, especially of
steamers, where square-sails are less frequently employed,
and a bird might easily remain unobserved and undisturbed