nape bare ; interscapulars, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts,
rich brown, the centre of each feather the darkest and most
uniform in colour, the edges freckled with the darker brown
on a ground of yellow-brown ; the primaries uniform leaden-
brown, slightly tinged with chestnut; the secondaries brownish
black, broadly tipped with chestnut and freckled with
brownish-black; all the shafts black; tertials freckled dark
brown, red-brown, and buff; upper tail-coverts buff, freckled
with two shades of brown; tail-feathers almost uniform
reddish-brown; chin and front of the neck a mixture of
white, buff, and dark brown in streaks; ear-coverts, and a
line descending therefrom, yellow-brown : between this and
the throat in front an elongated descending streak of black ;
the loose elongated feathers of the front and sides of the
neck down to the breast, are brown along the centre,
bounded by a darker line, and with broad edges of pale
buff: breast and belly buff, each feather with an elongated
brown central patch ; vent and under tail-coverts uniform
buff; legs and toes greenish-yellow; the claws darker; the
middle claw pectinated. As concisely stated by Mr. J. E.
Harting, in his excellent * Handbook of British Birds ’
(p. 151), the American Bittern may be distinguished from
the Old World Botaurus stellaris by its smaller size, more
slender legs and feet, and the uniform leaden-brown colour
of the primaries, which in our species are broadly barred
across both webs with buff.
The young are more reddish than the adults; and the
mottling is coarser, with a tendency to form ragged transverse
bars.
The whole length is about tw'enty-seven inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, eleven inches and
a half: the first three quill-feathers nearly equal in length,
and the longest in the wing; the first quill-featlier differs in
form from the second and third, being remarkably pointed
at the end, while the second and third are rounded.
The nestling is covered with a yellowish-buff down, much
lighter than in the European Bittern.
HER OBI ONES. CICONIIDÆ.
C iconia a l ba , Bechstein.*
THE WHITE STORK.
Ciconia alba.
Ciconia, Brissonf.—Beak longer than the head, straight, strong, and pointed.
Nostrils pierced longitudinally in the horny substance. Eyes surrounded by a
naked skin. Legs long ; feet with four rather short toes ; the three in front
united by a membrane as far as the first joint ; claws short, broad, obtuse ; the
middle one not pectinated. Wings rather large ; the first quill-feather shorter
than the second ; the third and fourth quill-feathers the longest in the wing.
Plumage without powder-down tracts. Tail short, and slightly rounded.
* Naturgeschichte Deutschlands, iii. p. 48 (1793).
+ Ornithologie, v. p. 361 (1760).