Annual report . in the grasswith its bill pointing upward, its attitude, streaked neck, general hue,and the black diagonal patch on the sides of its neck, all combining torender it invisible. On several occasions I have found it quite impossibleto point out successfully to companions a bittern which was standing infull view at no great distance, and often, when finally successful, have beenmet with the assertion that it was no bird at all. The bittern is now protected by our laws and I see no reason why suchan interesting bird should not be preserved. Ixobrychus exilis (Gmelin)Least Bittern Pl
Annual report . in the grasswith its bill pointing upward, its attitude, streaked neck, general hue,and the black diagonal patch on the sides of its neck, all combining torender it invisible. On several occasions I have found it quite impossibleto point out successfully to companions a bittern which was standing infull view at no great distance, and often, when finally successful, have beenmet with the assertion that it was no bird at all. The bittern is now protected by our laws and I see no reason why suchan interesting bird should not be preserved. Ixobrychus exilis (Gmelin)Least Bittern Plate 23 Ardea exilis Gmelin. Syst. Nat. 1788. 2 : 645 DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 225, fig. 190Ardetta exilis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. No. 191 ixobrychus, perhaps from Gr. t^os, birdlime; and fipvxaofmi, to bellow ; exilis, Lat., slight, small Description. Male: Crown, back, rump and tail glossy black, anarrow stripe of buffy along each side of the back; hind neck, part of the BIRDS OF NEW YORK 251. o a! 6W c o 252 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM wing coverts, and the outer edges of the wing quills chestnut, the rest ofthe neck and the under parts in general varying from light huffy to brownishyellow, the chin and throat varied with whitish; bill pale yellow, turningto blackish along the culmen; lores yellowish green; legs green; eyes andtoes yellow. Female: Similar to male, but brown where he is black and abroader stripe of buffy on the scapulars. Young: Similar to female, butthe feathers of the upper part tipped with buff. Length inches; extent 18; wing ; tail 2; tarsus ;middle toe and claw Field marks. The very small size of this little heron together with itsbuffv and black coloration will serve to distinguish it as it flies low overthe flags of the marsh, or stands immovable among the sedges. Its presencein the inarsh, however, will more often be determined in the breeding seasonby its mellow cuckoolike call, coo-coo-coo from the depths of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectscience, bookyear1902
