226 THE Brrps Asout Us. 
an alarm-cry that isa heron-like guvd@, but not louder, 
usually, than the cry of a snipe. 
The nest is a mere shallow saucer of dead reeds 
and grass, and the eggs are of a greenish-white color 
that is so much like the surrounding sickly, half- 
bleached vegetation at the surface of a marsh that 
they are quite inconspicuous. The bird, when sit- 
ting, is not readily disturbed, and ¢f zt thinks you 
don’t sce it, will let you pass by without any move- 
ment on its part. Such, at least, has been my ex- 
perience. Chamberlain mentions “a cooing note 
. . that is low, soft, and sweet,” uttered during the 
nesting season. This I may have heard, but never 
associated with these bitterns. 
These birds, which come to New Jersey about 
April 15, do not remain, like the preceding, and spend 
a winter about a warm, bubbling spring,—that is, do 
not do so voluntarily, but occasionally one has been 
found out of season. Such birds were doubtless in 
some way disabled, for it is hard at times to distin- 
cuish them from the king-rails that are so common in 
the same marshes, and many are killed every year, and 
necessarily some are slightly wounded. Such birds 
would not migrate or attempt it, and may possibly 
be able to survive an. “open” winter. In the height 
of “reed and rail” shooting the least bittern will 
often, when flushed, take refuge in a tree and assume 
a very unbird-like attitude, so that it is not readily 
seen unless you follow the bird in its flight. Its 
colors blend well with the surroundings, and, as a 
whole, the bird bears a good deal of resemblance to 
a broken branch. 
