76 BULLETIN 135, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



them not infrequently placed between the bogs in the marshes that 

 are devoid of all kinds of brush. A rank bunch of grass that springs 

 up in these places will most naturally be the place to look for tliem 

 first, however." 



R. C. Harlow writes me that he has found the American bittern 

 "nesting regularly on the salt marshes of the coast from Cape May 

 to Ocean County," New Jersey. William B. Crispin, of Salem, New 

 Jersey, wrote me: "The only set I have taken contained three eggs 

 built in a dry meadow amongst tall, blue, bent grass, with little or 

 no nest material except a few dry grass stalks." 



Several observers have noted that the bitterns usually make paths 

 leading to and from their nests, using one as an entrance and one as 

 an exit; and they say that the bird never flies directly from or to its 

 nest, but runs out and flies from the end of one path in leaving and 

 alights at the end of the other path and walks to the nest in return- 

 ing. Ira N. Gabrielson (1914) had an opportunity to watch a bit- 

 tern making one of these paths which he describes as follows: 



The paths were marked by a broken and trampled line of vegetation and 

 ended in a small platform. Our boat was placed directly across the path for 

 leaving, and we had an opportunity to watch the building of a new one. On 

 the first visit she walked off through the wild rice to the east of the nest, grasp- 

 ing the upright stalks with her feet and climbing from one to another. Her 

 weight broke numbers of them and made the beginning of the trail. After going 

 about 25 feet, she commenced to break other stalks down and lay them in a pile. 

 Some were already in the water and she soon had a platform capable of sustain- 

 ing her weight. The reeds were seized in the beak and broken with a quick 

 sidewise jerk of the head. When the platform was finished, she stepped upon 

 it and stood there for a time before she flew away. 



Eggs. — The American bittern lays from three to seven eggs; the 

 set usually consists of four or five, but six eggs are often laid. The 

 eggs are quite distinctive and are easily recognized. The shape var- 

 ies from oval to elliptical ovate. The shell is smooth with a slight 

 gloss. The color varies from "Isabella color" or "buffy brown" to 

 "ecru olive" or "deep olive buff." The measurements of 43 eggs 

 average 48.6 by 36.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 54.2 by 38.6, 45.5 by 36, 48 by 33.6 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is about 28 days and the young 

 birds remain in the nest for about two weeks. Mr. Gabrielson (1914) 

 has made some very interesting observations on the behavior of young 

 bitterns and their feeding habits, from which I quote as follows: 



During the absence of the parents, however prolonged, no outcry was ever 

 made by the 3'oung bitterns unless one of us went out of the blind and tried to 

 touch one of them. When we did this they backed away from us, uttering a 

 curious hissing sound and pecking viciously at our fingers. It was interesting to 

 note the change in their actions after the parent left the nest. For perhaps 10 

 minutes they remained in the position assumed after feeding, as described above. 

 At the end of that time they commenced to raise their heads and look around. 



