. Directory to the birds of Eastern North America .. . eck behind destitute of feathers,fig. 117. a. Striped Bitterns. Botaurus. Oesophagus, modified during the breeding season into asound-producing organ. Sexes, similar. Young, not strik-ingly different. Nests, placed on the grouud, usually infresh-water bogs ; eggs, 3-6 ; greenish-ash or brown. Nevergregarious even when breeding. 1. AMERICAN BITl^ERN, B. lentiginosus. ;bill, ; above dark brown sprinkled and spotted with yel-lowish; beneath, andon sides of head andneck, pale yellowishbroadly streaked withyellowish-rufous anddusky; tr
. Directory to the birds of Eastern North America .. . eck behind destitute of feathers,fig. 117. a. Striped Bitterns. Botaurus. Oesophagus, modified during the breeding season into asound-producing organ. Sexes, similar. Young, not strik-ingly different. Nests, placed on the grouud, usually infresh-water bogs ; eggs, 3-6 ; greenish-ash or brown. Nevergregarious even when breeding. 1. AMERICAN BITl^ERN, B. lentiginosus. ;bill, ; above dark brown sprinkled and spotted with yel-lowish; beneath, andon sides of head andneck, pale yellowishbroadly streaked withyellowish-rufous anddusky; triangulat*patch on side of neck,black ; iris, yellow ;bill and feet greenish,fig. 117. Young, sim-ilar but somewhat pal-er. Nestlings, coveredwith long, yellowishdown. Breeds through-out temperate N. A.; ^^ A, a, 1. nests in inaccessible fresh water bogs but occasion-ally breeds on salt marshes; migrates south in Oct.; wintersfrom Fla. southward to Guatemala; comes north in When not breeding frequents alike fresh and salt ^^. 102 SHOBE BIRDS. marshes; when alarmed it will often squat amid the grass orwill even enter the water leaving only the bill exposed; atother times it will stand perfectly motionless with the bodyand neck perpendicular and the bill pointed upward, thus rie-sembling a stake. Cries, when started, harsh and sharp ; dur-ing the breeding season (May and June) the singular oesoph-agal notes are given ; the bird treads down a portion of thegrass in a bog upon which it stands with bill pointed upwardand air is taken into the gullet in several audible gulps thenthis ejected rather forcibly, producing two sounds, the firstsingle, the second double, sounding like ^ Piuik a-pog \when uttering these notes the bird bows its head up anddown. ( For a detailed account of the vocal organs see May-nards Contributions to Science, Vol. 1, 1889, pp 59-68.) b. Little Bitterns. not modified to produce sound. Sexes notsimilar. Young, som
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