Eeeds and Bushes. 33 



reed. This attitude is commonly employed by the bitterns 

 for purposes of concealment when hard pressed. A brown- 

 coloured bittern is exceedingly difficult to find in a reed 

 bed when in this position, and so is a little bittern where 

 the reeds are thick and the light broken up, but in the 

 present case the pied plumage of the bird was very con- 

 spicuous in the more or less open space which it had chosen. 

 The bird, however, seemed to consider itself quite invisible, 

 for it remained stiff and motionless although we went 

 within a few yards of it. By wading quietly through this 

 reed bed we put up several more of these birds, and we had 

 also the good fortune to find one of their nests made of dry 

 pieces of reed, and carefully concealed. The nest contained 

 five eggs of the purest dull white. 



As mentioned in my first article, a small portion of the 

 marismas is dotted over with pines and cork oaks, and 

 overgrown with a very dense and tall undergrowth, com- 

 posed of tamarisk, gorse, cistus and other shrubs, some- 

 times growing almost to the size of trees. This part of 

 the marismas is near the sea, from which it is protected by 

 miles of sand dunes. These are increasing so rapidly in 

 height and breadth that many trees, and even whole 

 woods, have been covered and eventually stifled to death 

 by the shifting sand. In riding across these sand hills 

 one actually passes over the tops of many a tall dead tree 

 hidden under the sand, or guides one's horse amongst the 

 topmost branches of some big pine, which is still living 

 and fighting the irresistible sand that will eventually 

 smother it. The sight of a grove of these trees buried up 

 to their " necks " in sand and yet still living, is not to be 

 forgotten. 



We approached this country from the river, and as our 

 boat neared the shore we noticed that the mud of the river 



