( 90 ) 

 THE RETURN OF THE BITTERN TO NORFOLK. 



BY 

 E. L. TURXER. 



[Plate II.] 



" Quite like old times, Miss, to have Bitterns nesting 

 and booming around," was the casual but somewhat 

 startling greeting addressed to me by an angling friend 

 two days after my arrival in Norfolk. I immediate 1}' 

 " fetched up alongside " and made further inquiries ; 

 finding he had no definite knowledge of the exact locality, 

 I asked him to obtain for me certain particulars as soon 

 as possible. My friend returned the next morning with 

 more details, and at 10 a.m. Vincent and I set off — first 

 of all to obtain permission from " the powers that be " 

 to hunt for the nest, and, having obtained this we settled 

 down to watch. 



The never-to-be-forgotten 8th of July was a terribly hot 

 day, and I cannot say that either of us felt particularly 

 hopeful as we climbed to the ridge of a,n old boat-house 

 at 2 p.m., armed with a large slice of bread and cheese 

 and a bottle of lemonade b}^ way of lunch, and newspapers 

 to protect the back of our necks from the blazing sun. 

 From our vantage-point we commanded a view over a 

 wide stretch of reed-bed, in the vicinity of which the 

 Bitterns were said to be seen daily. 



After about three-quarters of an hour's watching, I 

 suddenly saw a large, bright brown bird rise from the 

 reeds on our left, and exclaimed, " Look ! " " That's 

 the Bittern,"' said Vincent ; and jumping to our feet we 

 had our first prolonged view of the bird, as with slow, 

 heavy flight she swept across the marsh. In the brilliant 

 sunshine and against a background of green trees, the 

 bird appeared to be a bright cinnamon-brown : her slow, 

 flapping flight resembled that of a Short-eared Owl, 

 whilst in shape she was like a Heron, as with head thrust 

 back, straight, keel-shaped breast-bone in advance, and 

 long legs stretched out behind, she seemed to drift lazily 

 along, and finally dropped into a dense reed-bed some 



