4'>4 



THE \MKklC\.\ BITTERN. 



1 1" the fishing is poor, he may venture up into the meadows in search of moles 

 and mice. When suddenly flushed, the bird makes (iff with a low frightened 

 quawk, 'Hi heavy noiseless wings: but if he has a moment's warning, and 

 a ghost uf a show at concealment" the bird stretches instead to an enormous 



height, holding the long hill vertically, and becomes rigid. In such a posi- 

 tinii it requires the closest scrutiny to distinguish the bird from the surround- 

 ing reeds. Even in the open the bird will pose as a stake or a weed, and 

 often quite successfully, relaxing or flying only when the danger is past. 

 When at rest and unsuspicious, as in the heart of the swamp, the Bitten; 

 allows his feathers to droop like a rudely thatched roof, and he himself 



looks not unlike a 

 deserted hut, fit em- 

 lem of the melan- 

 choly morass. 

 It is not. 

 however, upon 

 iii- beauty nor 

 ii] ion his weight 

 that the Bit- 

 tern's reputa- 

 tion rests, but 

 upon his won- 

 derful voice. 

 The moonlight 

 serenade which 

 this ardent lov- 

 er accords his 

 mistress is one 

 of the most out- 

 landish per- 

 formances in 

 nature. Take an air-tight hogshead and immerse it suddenly in water with 

 the bung-hole down; then allow the air to escape in great gurgles. si\ a 

 caskful at a time, and you will get hut a faint idea of the terrifying, earth- 

 shaking power of the "Thunder-pump" at close range. Umph-ta-googh, 

 umph-ta-googli, groans this absurd wooer, and the swamp quakes with ap- 

 prehension. The case is serious, for the bird accompanies the cry with a 

 motion which suggests the miseries of the Scriptural whale, and each suc- 

 cessive Jonah has a long way to go before reaching fresh air. Maria likes 

 the noise, of course, and. — well, love is like seasickness at certain stages. 

 The birds also indulge in another note not less strange, but somewhat 

 less startling. — that of a stake smitten by a hammer. Whack - a - whack. 



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