. A history of British birds . 206 HERODIONES. ARDEIDii:. BOTAURUS STELLARIS (Linnffius*). THE COMMON BITTERN. Botcmrus stellaris. BoTAURUS, Stephensf.—Beak ratber longer than the head, strong, higherthan broad, the mandibles of equal length, upper mandible curved down-wards. Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal, lodged in a furrow, and partlycovered by a naked membrane. Legs of mean length, tarsi scutellate ; toes long,and slender, all unequal, the middle toe as long as the tarsus ; hind toe long,articulated with the interior toe, and on the same plane : claws long, that of themid
. A history of British birds . 206 HERODIONES. ARDEIDii:. BOTAURUS STELLARIS (Linnffius*). THE COMMON BITTERN. Botcmrus stellaris. BoTAURUS, Stephensf.—Beak ratber longer than the head, strong, higherthan broad, the mandibles of equal length, upper mandible curved down-wards. Nostrils basal, linear, longitudinal, lodged in a furrow, and partlycovered by a naked membrane. Legs of mean length, tarsi scutellate ; toes long,and slender, all unequal, the middle toe as long as the tarsus ; hind toe long,articulated with the interior toe, and on the same plane : claws long, that of themiddle toe pectinated. Wing long, rather rounded, the first three quill-feathersthe longest, and nearly equal. Tail of ten soft feathers. * Ardea stellaris, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 239 (1766).t Shaws General Zoology, xi. p. 592 (1819). COMMON BITTERN. 207 Formerly, wheu large portions of the British Islandswere uncultivated, and extensive marshes and waste landafforded the Bittern abundance of retreats congenial to itshabits, it was plentifully distribute
Size: 1558px × 1604px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
