bogtrotter n
1 = marsh hawk n 1.
1864 in 1866 Essex Inst. Communications 4.51 MA, Circus hudsonius Vieill. Marsh Hawk. “Blue Hawk.” “Bog-trotter” of sportsmen. . . It is by far our most common Hawk. 1867 (1868) Samuels Ornith. & Oölogy New Engl. 47, This species [=marsh hawk] is pretty generally diffused throughout New England as a summer visitor. . . It is more common in districts that are low and marshy than in others; and this fact gives it the name, in many localities, of the “Bogtrotter.”
2 = bittern n.
1884 Abbott Naturalist’s Rambles 227 cNJ, When disturbed, unlike the big bittern or “bog-trotter,” it gives no hoarse croak as it takes wing. 1889 Ornith. & Oölogist 14.120 MI, This bird of many names is well known to all collectors in the state. It is to be doubted if anyone interested in ornithology within our borders is unacquainted with this uncouth species [=Botaurus lentiginosus], unless he lives in a high and dry locality. There are some quarters where the Thunder Pumper, Indian Hen, Plum Pudden, Stake Driver or Bog Trotter is not to be found on account of the nature of the surface of the land. 2008 Heat Moon Roads to Quoz 530, We had come into a locale good for the presence of the real bog trotter—the American bittern.
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