ON THE SHOBE 365 



'' Ugli ! " sliiverecl Dodo, who had a very keen nose, 

 '' what an ngiy place to live in, and such a horrid smell I 

 Please, uncle, don't these birds have dreadful headaches 

 very often ? " 



" I think House People would have wretched head- 

 aches if they lived liere — in fact, we must not stay 

 very long ; but it agrees with Herons, who are built to 

 be the wardens of just such places." 



'' There are two kinds of Herons here," said Rap. 

 '' Some black and white, with a top-knot, and some 

 striped brown ones. Aren't the brown ones Bitterns? 

 They look like one I saw in tlie miller's woods, and he 

 called it a Bittern." 



" The striped ones are the young birds, now wearing 

 their first plumage. Bitterns prefer to live in fresh- 

 water meadows, or near ponds. They are solitary birds, 

 keeping house in single pairs, and after nesting-time 

 wander about entirely alone." 



''Isn't it very hard to tell young Night Herons from 

 Bitterns?" asked Nat. 



" It would be eas}^ for you to mistake them, but the 

 habits of the two species are quite different. The Bit- 

 tern nests on the ground, in a reedy bog, not in the 

 woods, and may be seen flying in broad daylight, with 

 his long legs trailing behind liim. But in spite of this, 

 he is a difficult bird to find ; for if anything is ' remote, 

 unfriendly, solitar}^ slow,' it is the American Bittern, 

 who often stands motionless among the reeds for hours." 



"That is just what the Bittern did that the miller 

 and I saw," said Rap. "We were hunting for a calf — 

 the miller's things are always straying away, because he 

 never mends his fences — and this Bittern was among 



