. A history of British birds . ellow; the claws darker; themiddle claw pectinated. As concisely stated by Mr. J. , in his excellent Handbook of British Birds (p. 151), the American Bittern may be distinguished fromthe Old World Botaurns stellaris by its smaller size, moreslender legs and feet, and the uniform leaden-brown colourof the primaries, which in our species are broadly barredacross both webs with buff. The young are more reddish than the adults; and themottling is coarser, with a tendency to form ragged trans-verse bars. The whole length is about twenty-seven inches. Fromthe
. A history of British birds . ellow; the claws darker; themiddle claw pectinated. As concisely stated by Mr. J. , in his excellent Handbook of British Birds (p. 151), the American Bittern may be distinguished fromthe Old World Botaurns stellaris by its smaller size, moreslender legs and feet, and the uniform leaden-brown colourof the primaries, which in our species are broadly barredacross both webs with buff. The young are more reddish than the adults; and themottling is coarser, with a tendency to form ragged trans-verse bars. The whole length is about twenty-seven inches. Fromthe carpal joint to the end of the wing, eleven inches anda half: the first three quill-feathers nearly equal in length,and the longest in the wing; the first quill-feather differs inform from the second and third, being remarkably pointedat the end, while the second and third are rounded. The nestling is covered with a yellowish-buff down, muchlighter than in the European Bittern. HERODIONES. WHITE STORK. 219CICONIID^. /vl ■A -. CicoNiA ALBA, Bechstein.*THE WHITE STORK. Ciconia alba. CicoNiA, Brissonf.—Beak longer tban the head, straight, strong, and pierced longitudinally in the horny substance. Eyes surrounded by anaked skin. Legs long; feet with four rather short toes ; the three in frontunited by a membrane as far as the tirst joint ; claws short, broad, obtuse ; themiddle one not pectinated. Wings rather large ; the first quill-feather shorterthan the second ; the third and fourth quill-feathers the longest in the without powder-down tracts. Tail short, and slightly rounded. * Naturgeschichte Deutschlands, iii. p. 48 (1793). t Ornithologie, v. p. 361 (1760). 220 CICONIID^. It does not appear that the White Stork has ever beenmore than an irregular visitor to the British Islands. Solong ago as 1544 Dr. William Turner, writing at Cologne,expresses his surprise that a bird so common in Germanyshould be unknown in Britain, except in captivity. By
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