E. W. WADE : BREEDING OF THE BITTERN. 331 



the long nostrils, whilst the beak is closed and lifted up," 

 may be the true explanation. Certainly, for a bird with 

 no convolution of the trachea, the volume of sound is 

 enormous. An old Dutch fenman told us that the boom 





^\' : 



Xest among dead Bulrushes, visible at thirty paces when the old 

 bird was not sitting. (Photographed by E. W. Wade.) 



maybe heard from February till 21st June, by which latter 

 date the last of the young* would be out of the nest. 



Almost without exception our English writers mention 

 the note as heard after twilight, some going so far as to 

 state that it is never heard during the day, which possibly 



