130 



THE OOLOGIST. 



I found a loue pair of birds nesting 

 tliere. The nest was formed of rushes 

 like those of the first colony, and con- 

 tained three eggs. 



I was in its vicinity several times 

 afterward and stopped to look into it. 

 A house was within a hundred yards of 

 the place where it was situated and 

 there were several small boys always 

 infesting the shore, yet I think that no 

 one besides myself knew of this nest. 

 At all events the bird was not disturb- 

 ed and the rushes were not trampled 

 down about it. This demonstrates 

 what retiring habits the Least Bittern 

 has. He keeps himself in such security 

 and is so silent that only those who ai'e 

 on the lookout for birds are liable to 

 see him, and I have little doubt but 

 what he is counted rare in localities 

 where he is not so. 



I was often able to approach quite 

 near to the nest last mentioned without 

 flushing the bird. I found that both 

 male and female shared in the duties of 

 incubation. When I came in sight they 

 always rose upon the nest, but instead 

 of standing on the feet they rested on 

 the knee joints with the feet forward. 

 From this 1 believe that they set u^jon 

 the eggs with the feet doubled under 

 them. 



In general form the bird was a mina- 

 ture of the American Bittern, though 

 there was not a great deal of resem- 

 blance in coloration. The under parts 

 of both birds was light yellow, the back 

 of the male was a greenish black and 

 the back of the female was of a brown- 

 ish shade. The color of the back made 

 the two quite distinguishable. 



When the birds noticed that they 

 were being observed they always 

 I'aised the bill straight upward; a posi- 

 tion characteristic of their larger rela- 

 tive. Sometimes they climbed upon 

 the rushes before flying, at which times 

 one foot was held some distance above 

 the other just as Blackbirds cling to 

 the flags, although in the Heron-like 



position the birds are rather handsome, 

 yet when they assumed this attitude, 

 with the bill upward and neck stretch- 

 ed, they appeared extremely narrow of 

 body and their awkwardness of posi- 

 tion overshadowed all the beauty of 

 plumage that they possessed. 



The flight also resembled that of the 

 American Bittern, though when beating 

 along close to the water some distance 

 awaj' they were readily mistaken for 

 some other bird. 



When leaving the nest they might 

 utter a low sound like the chipping of a 

 Blackbird or a very undertoned squawk 

 but they have their characteristic cry. 

 I had heard it often in the marshes, but 

 never thought it was that of the Least 

 Bittern until this year. I supposed it 

 belonged to the Coot or the Grebe and 

 always considered the Bittern remark- 

 ably silent. It is a note that would be 

 useless to describe but is quite loud and 

 hai'sh. 



One morning I was walking along 

 the shore when I saw a Bittern fly to 

 the lily pads not far from me. Had I 

 not seen him alight I should certainly 

 have passed by without noticing him. 

 While his plumage in no respect re- 

 sembled the vegetation yet it was such 

 that when I took my eyes away it was 

 rather diflicult to place them on him 

 again. He was not aware of my pres- 

 ence and walked upon the lily pads 

 with neck stretched before him as fully 

 as long as his body, with long stealthy 

 steps. I have seen the American Bit- 

 tern step with the same long stride. A 

 few scattered rushes grew among the 

 lillies and whenever he came to one he 

 perked his head about under it with 

 sidelong glances, searching industrious- 

 ly for insects. Sometimes he climbed 

 short distances upon these rushes in 

 pursuit of something. It was remark- 

 able to see how light he was and how 

 the rushes bore him up. His feathers 

 made him appear a lai'ger bird than he 

 was. He was very industrious for thei'e 



