these retreats are celebrated both in America add Europe. - The
naturalist whose eourage and perseverance enable him tö pene-.
Irate the swamps; and a thousand difficulties, that surround one of
'tjtó$e;-reefess#s-„ and ren te r them nearly inaccessible, is amply
repaid by the astetefehiiig spectacle he witnesses. He findsevery
braheh, every fork, the, tap-of every bush covered with the nests
of.ihe'se birds; and the ear is stunned with the cries and flapping
of the wingsof the alarmed multitude. The parents, and suteh of
tb^yofing&s can fly, a t Ottee-depart; their numbers obsterihg the
s k y b u t their attachment for their offspring overcoming their
fearSj the. {«rents soon return to their defence, and bohlly attack
any enemy, •sbi that even the Mows of sticks, or the report of the:
fatal, gun has no terror for them. Their nests are made with
sticks, and lited with wool; but if they find a nest already .mdde^
they do not take the pains to build a new one. Their young are
as voracious.and hard to satisfy as themselves.
I ■ Thé, Egret Herons are entirely of a snowy whiteness, without
any, coloured markings on the plumage whatever. We even
exclude from them thf&flrdaa russata that visits occasionally the
south of Europe, and possesses when adult in the. greatest degree
the rferng flowing ornamental plumes. This, with the ï&MmcÈs,
'spe&osa óf . Java, &c., we consider as forming a group equivalent
in rank to Egret, and we apply to it Bole’s name of Biiphus.
Qur sfewiteiSsid).gemus, Botaurus, including the Bittern, Night
HeFonsyand other groups of authors, is characterized by the hill
being hardly longer than the head, much compressed, higher
than broad,, with the upper mandible somewhat curved. Their
legs are comparatively, short, and the naked space on the tibia
restricted: their heek is rather short, thickly and closely covered
with long, broad, and loose ■ erectile feathers, and merely downy
a b ó v e their body is comparatively plump, even fleshy, and
sometimes good. eating.. They are chiefly nocturnal, and haunt
m marshy and sedgy places. Their food is principally reptiles,
i^ects, worms, fish-spawn, and they e,v.ep epA, vegetables, and
are not by( any means so destructive as the, Heroes proper, nor so
skilftiMt fishing.. The .birds of this subgenu?.mcyjp,sijfe in open
places, bat on the contrary keep <m#qealed „WOngst tl^e highest
reeds/or grassés, and if an enemy approaches. their, re tre ^ jth ey
either- squat on the g ro u n d ||h|?eseape. between the reeds* and
never“resort to their' slow, heavily raised lights bat m the last
extremity. Instead of high trees, the Bittern^,gl^e their pest in
a sedgy margin, or among the rushes; an<Jt,instead of sticks and
wool, tjbey ,are contented'with simpler m a te ria l s.ugh as sqdgg,
leaves of water-plants or rushes; and they lay seven or eight eggs,
twice the number of the true Herons- The yohng do not reqnjre
long a period the parental care, but;qntbe.
the mother after a few days. When excited, the Bjtterns have a
curious mode of erecting their loose neck-feathers, causing it to
appear very much enlarged. Although well defined as. a group,
these birds are connected with the true Herons by means of inter-
mediate species that might with propriety “he placed in either : as
an example of the intermediate species mPre allied, to the Herons,
we might qupte the beautiful JL. rglloides of southern Europe,.,
which we look upon as the type of jhe. grnup RupAus, r' t)f those
nearer to Botaurus, JL. virescens is an example, with the form of
the Herons,, but the plumage of the Bitterns: wè establish it as
the. type? -of a natural though secondary group, to,which we cannot
d® bettfe than apply the name, of Hérodias, proposed, by Boie.
Itt: the subgenug Botaurus also, nature, ha? pointed out several
spiall sections, of which* | Uomenclators have eagerly availed
themselves ; as among the Herons we have, noticed the Egrets,
Herons proper, Herodias, and Buphtis, we may also indicate the
JVyctieoraces among the Bitterns, which are distinguished by
weai’ing in the adult state long, tapering occipital feathers;