AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 127 



own species, and their evident indignation if a bird 

 of another species ventures to ahght, even at a dis- 

 tance of several feet, on the perch occupied by them, 

 is very remarkable. They are, however, somewhat 

 shy of interference with the Australian Laughing 

 Kingfisher, who, though he seldom asserts his power, 

 is undoubtedly master of his compartment. 



167. BITTERN. 



Botaarus stellaris. 



I presume that in the time of Morton the Bittern 

 was so frequently met with in our county, that he did 

 not consider it as worthy of special record, as at the 

 end of his list of Northamptonshire birds, p. 431, he 

 states that those therein included " are all I can fitly 

 mention as more uncommon Birds " ; the opposite 

 inference, that he was not acquainted with an occur- 

 rence of this species in the county, is of course possible, 

 but, I think, much less probable than that which I 

 deduce from his words. Although this most in- 

 teresting bird can no longer be called common in any 

 part of the three kingdoms, it was formerly abundant, 

 and more or less resident, in almost all the extensive 

 marshes and fens of England, especially so perhaps in 

 the great reed-jungles that encircled Whittlesea Mere. 

 With reference to this locality, Mr. John Heathcote, of 

 Conington Castle, in 1876 stated in writing to me : — 

 " Common Bittern or Butter-Bump, 7 or 8 shot in a 

 day by W. Coles, wdio formerly rented Whittlesea 

 Mere, — two taken alive by getting their feet entangled 

 in a bow-net," and in the same letter he adds: — " My 

 brother and myself (about 1825) shot 7 Bitterns in a 



