66 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 87 



them try to frighten me away by ruffling up the feathers 

 and making a funny hissing sound. 



The actions of the young were very interesting and were 

 in direct contrast in many ways to all other young birds 

 with which we were familiar. No sound was ever made on 

 the approach of the parent beyond a slight hissing, barely 

 audible in the blind four feet away. This was very different 

 from the young Yellow-headed Blackbirds on all sides of 

 them, who could be heard almost constantly begging for food. 

 During the absence of the parents, however prolonged, no 

 outcry M'as ever made by the young 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 ten 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. For the next hour they sat contentedly on the 

 shaded side of the nest, occasionally dipping the tip of the 

 beak into the water but never drinking anything. In the 

 next half hour they began to grow uneasy and to keep watch 

 for the parent. Every blackbird that flew above the nest 

 caused each head to rise to its full height and silently watch 

 his flight across their horizon. At times they seized each 

 others' beaks in the same manner as the parent's was held. 

 At other times they seized the reed stems crosswise and pulled 

 vigorously on them, sometimes working the mandibles as if 

 chewing. This continued until the return of the parent, 

 when all would assemble on one side of the nest and watch 

 her approach through the reeds. No sanitary measures were 

 noted, and the nest became a rather unpleasant smelling 

 place before our work was finished. 



LEAST BITTERN. (IxohrycJius exiUs.) 



The Least Bittern nest, which was located on June 26, 

 contained five eggs. On July 4 two eggs had hatched and 

 on the sixth all but one. The blind was put in place on the 



