58 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



reed or burying its long spear-shaped bill in the 



mud — 



Like as a Bittern that bumbleth in the mire. 



The Bittern is seldom seen upon the wing, and 

 flies in a slow, deliberate manner, seldom for any- 

 great distance at a time, and always apparently 

 anxious to hide itself as quickly as possible. Less 

 rarely still is it observed to alight in a tree. Like 

 all the Heron tribe, the Bittern has a voracious 

 appetite, feeding chiefly on fish, frogs, and aquatic 

 insects, and occasionally on small animals ; eels a 

 foot or more in length have been taken from its 

 stomach. Upon the ground the Bittern is able to 

 run through the dense reeds with marvellous 

 celerity, its long slender feet enabling it to cross 

 the marshy ground with ease. Of the pairing 

 habits of the Bittern but little is known. The bird 

 is a somewhat early breeder, the eggs being laid in 

 April and May — sometimes towards the end of 

 March. The nest is made upon the ground in the 

 reeds and other aquatic vegetation, and is little 

 more than a heap of rotting reeds, flags, and other 

 herbage. The four or five eggs are brownish olive 

 or bufi! The female is said to incubate these for 

 the most part, and but one brood is reared in the 

 season. The Bittern is just as solitary during the 



