: BITTERN. 505 
inch. It is almost impossible to distinguish the eggs of the Common 
Bittern from those of the American Bittern. The only eggs of a British 
bird with which they can be confused are those of the Pheasant; but 
the latter are more olive in colour and are much smaller. The eggs of 
the Bittern, when held up to the light, are not green inside, like those 
of the Herons, but yellowish brown. The eggs of the Common Bittern 
vary somewhat in shape, some specimens being pointed almost as much at 
each end, like those of a Grebe. 
Except perhaps at the season of migration, the Bittern is a solitary bird, 
and has never been known to breed in company with others of its own or 
different species. It has the reputation of being one of the least sociable of 
birds ; and Naumann asserts that to avoid detection it sometimes remains 
perfectly motionless in a very peculiar position, imitating the appearance 
of a bunch of dead reeds, to deceive the passer-by: seated on its tarsi, its 
tail on the ground, the body is held erect, the neck is extended, and it 
points its beak upwards. . 
Almost every feather in the plumage of the Bittern is buff, irregularly 
vermiculated with obscure cross bars and shaft-lines of brownish black, 
most conspicuous on the back and scapulars. The forehead, crown, and 
nape are almost uniform dark brown, and the feathers on each side of the 
breast are uniform dark brown margined with buff, but the latter are 
almost concealed by the elongated feathers of the lower neck. Bill 
greenish yellow; legs and feet yellowish green; claws dark brown; irides 
yellow; bare space before the eye yellowish green. There are no impor- 
tant differences in the colour of the plumage attributable to age, sex, or 
season. The young birds are covered with rusty-yellow down. 
