n. the American bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus.
See also: marsh bittern
- 1896  (n.d.)  Ditches, dikes, and fences were of small concern to me, and I went craning it over the country like a huge meadow-hen.
- 1956  American Bittern [is also called] meadow hen (. . . in a country where a marsh is a meadow, N.B.). . . .