191. Ixobrychus exilis. 13 in.
Male with the crown and back glossy black; female with these areas hair-brown, and streaked with brown below. These diminutive little bitterns are very shy and retiring, and seldom seen away from the reed grown marshes or ponds that they frequent.
Notes.—A hoarse croak, and a softly repeated “coo.”
Nest.—A platform of dead rushes twisted about the living stalks. The 3 or 4 eggs are pale bluish white. (1.2 × .9); May, June.
Range.—Breeds from the Gulf States, locally to Southern Canada; winters from the Gulf States southward.
CORY LEAST BITTERN
191.1. Ixobrychus neoxynus. 13 in.
This extremely rare little bittern is of the same size and form as the common species. The crown, back, wing-feathers and tail are black, and the rest of the plumage is more or less intense chestnut brown. The majority of specimens have been taken in Florida and Ontario, with one each from Michigan and Massachusetts. There are about twenty of them known to be preserved.
