130 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



monosyllabic grunts or coughs ; in this connection 

 I may state that I was informed by a lady that when 

 she first went down after her marriage to her 

 husband's house in East Norfolk, she was constantly 

 prevented from sleeping at night by the booming of 

 the Bitterns in the neighbouring marshes. This 

 would be probably about 1840-45, but although the 

 Bittern is still occasionally met with in the locality, 

 I am strongly of opinion that no human slumbers 

 there have been disturbed by these birds for at least 

 thirty years past. The nest of the Bittern is com- 

 posed of dry reeds and sedge, and generally situated on 

 the ground in the most dense parts of the reed-beds ; 

 the eggs are of a drab olive-colour, in this particular 

 somewhat resembling those of the Pheasant, but 

 rather darker, and of a different shape, the usual 

 complement is four. Certain authors have stated 

 that this bird occasionally perches in trees, but 

 except in captivity I have never known of such a 

 case, and I only once met with a Bittern away from 

 thick covert of aquatic vegetation. There is some- 

 thing about the remarkable attitudes of this bird, its 

 peculiar colouring, its perfectly noiseless flight, its 

 note, and nocturnal habits, that conveys a sense 

 of wildness and solitude, and is to me very fascinating. 

 Often, when standing for flight-shooting in the 

 marshes of Epirus at the hour of " gloaming," has a 

 Bittern startled me by almost brushing me with its 

 silent wing, and settled within a few feet of my 

 position, only to rise at my next shot at passing ducks, 

 and I have seen more than one English companion in 

 those regions astounded by the rising of one of these 

 great birds almost at his feet without a sound, when 

 he was expecting nothing larger than a Snipe. In 



