the places where they are to be found, I may mention that I caught one about two miles in the bush, on the bank of a creek; but the creek led to a lagoon. They live on small fishes or the roots of reeds; I should say the latter, because at the very place where I caught one I observed the reeds turned up and the roots gone. They are very solitary, and always found alone, and they stand for hours in one place. I heard a person say that he had opened one and found a large egg in it. They breed on the ground in very obscure places; I never heard their cry. Feeding The bittern is recorded as eating mudfish and worms in captivity, when given in water. Voice Two calls were recorded by Buller, a "peculiar snapping cry" as an alarm call, and a "cry not unlike that of a kingfisher, though not so loud". References External links Holotype from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa New Zealand Little Bittern / Kaoriki. Ixobrychus novaezelandiae. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006 Ixobrychus Bitterns Bird extinctions since 1500 Extinct birds of New Zealand Birds described in 1871 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot