262 Birds Every Child Should Know 



buff freckled fellow move as he stands waiting 

 for prey to come within striking distance of 

 what appears to be a dead stump. Sometimes 

 he stands with his head drawn in until it rests 

 on his back ; or, he may hold his head erect and 

 pointed upward when he looks like a sharp 

 snag. While he meditates pleasantly on the 

 flavour of a coming dinner, he suddenly snaps 

 and gulps, filling his lungs with air, then loudly 

 bellows forth the most unmusical bird cry you 

 are ever likely to hear. You may recognise it 

 across the marsh half a mile away or more. A 

 nauseated child would go through no more con- 

 vulsive gestures than this happy hermit makes 

 every time he lifts up his voice to call, pump- 

 er-lunk, pump-er-hmk, pump-er-lunk. Still 

 another noise has earned him one of his many 

 popular names because it sounds like a stake 

 being driven into the mud. 



A booming bittern I know sits hour after 

 hour, almost every day in summer, year after 

 year, on a dark, decaying pile of an old dock 

 in the creek. Our canoe glides over the water 

 so silently it rarely disturbs him. The timid 

 bird relies on his protective colouring to con- 

 ceal him in so exposed a place and profits by 

 his fearlessness in broad daylight next to an 

 excellent feeding ground. At low tide he walks 

 about sedately on the muddy flats treading out 

 a dinner. Kingfishers rattle up and down the 



