BITTERNS 219 



ing," and " bumbling," has given rise amongst old 

 writers to a variety of fables to account for the mode 

 b)^ which it is produced. Having stood within ten 

 yards of a Bittern while it was uttering this curious 

 sound, 1 am enabled to state from personal observa- 

 tion that the beak, so far from being plunged into 

 the mive {Jide Thomson, author of "The Seasons"), 

 or water (according to Chaucer), or within a reed 

 (as Dryden hath it), is pointed vertically upwards, 

 resembling at a little distance a green reed stem 

 amidst faded leaves. To my ear, the sound produced 

 is comparable to that which I have heard uttered by 

 the cock Bustard when " showing off" in the spring. 

 For further notes on this subject seeTorrey " On the 

 Booming of the American Bittern" in The Auk for 

 January 1889 ; " On the Vocal Organs of the Ameri- 

 can Bittern," Contrih. Sci., vol. i. pp. 59-68 ; and 

 Leverklihn, " Das Briillen der Amerikanischen Rohr- 

 dommel," Orn. Monats. Deutsch. Vereins zum Schutze 

 der Vogehvelt, xv. 1890. 



The weight of an adult Bittern in good condition 

 varies from 2| to 2f lbs. ; but one shot near Lynn on 

 January 26, 1886, weighed only 1 lb. 2 oz. ; expanse 

 of wing, 46 in. 



LITTLE BITTERN. Botaurus minutus (Linnaeus). PI. 

 25, figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, 11 in.; bill, 1-9 in.; 

 wing, 5*75 in. ; tarsus, 1'75 in. 



An occasional summer visitant to England ; much 

 rarer in Scotland and Ireland. Although no well- 

 authenticated instance of its having nested in this 



