THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 623 
he skulks and feeds quietly by day; but as twilight approaches, he becomes 
much more active, and stirs about among the reeds hunting for crayfish and 
frogs, or wading with deliberate step in search of water insects and minnows. 
If the fishing is poor he may venture up into the meadows in search of moles 
and mice. When suddenly flushed, the bird makes off with a low frightened 
quawk, on heavy noiseless wings; but if he has a moment’s warning, and 
a ghost of a show at concealment, the bird stretches, instead, to an enormous 
height, holding the long bill vertically, and becomes rigid. In such a posi- 
tion it requires the closest scrutiny to distinguish the bird from the surround- 
ing reeds. Even in the open the bird will pose as a stake or a weed, and 
often quite successfully, relaxing or flying only when the danger is past. 
When at rest and unsuspicious, as in the heart of the swamp, the Bittern 
allows his feathers to droop like a rudely thatched roof, and he himself looks 
not unlike a deserted hut, fit emblem of the melancholy morass. 
It is not, however, upon his beauty nor upon his weight that the Bittern’s 
reputation rests, but upon his wonderful voice. The moonlight serenade 
which this ardent lover accords his mistress is one of the most outlandish 
performances in nature. Take an air-tight hogshead and immerse it suddenly 
in water with the bung-hole down; then allow the air to escape in great 
gurgles, say a caskful at a time, and you will get but a faint idea of the terri- 
fying, earth-shaking power of the “Thunder-pump” at close range. Umph- 
ta-googh, wuph-ta-googh, groans this absurd wooer, and the swamp quakes 
with apprehension. ‘The case is serious, for the bird accompanies the cry 
with a motion which suggests the miseries of the Scriptural whale; and each 
successive Jonah has a long way to go before reaching fresh air. Maria likes 
the noise, of course, and,—well, love is like seasickness, at certain stages. 
The birds also indulge in another note not less strange, but somewhat 
less startling,—that of a stake smitten by a hammer. I/l’hack - a- whack, 
whack-a-whack, goes the bird, and the dullest imagination can picture the 
stake sinking deeper into the mud with every stroke. 
No. 248. 
GREAT BLUE HERON. 
V's, O. U. No. 194. Ardea herodias Linn. 
Synonym.—B ivr CRANE. 
Description.—Adult: Crown, sides of head, and throat white; occiput and 
top of head on sides glossy black, the feathers elongated into an occipital crest ; 
neck pale purplish brown; a mesial stripe in front black, white and ochraceous ; 
feathers of the side of the neck in front much lengthened, whitish and purplish 
brown; breast and belly broadly streaked with black and white in about equal 
