226 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



an alarm-cry that is a heron-like qua,, but not louder, 

 usually, than the cry of a snipe. 



The nest is a mere shallow saucer of dead reeds 

 and grass, and the eggs are of a greenish-white color 

 that is so much like the surrounding sickly, half- 

 bleached vegetation at the surface of a marsh that 

 they are quite inconspicuous. The bird, when sit- 

 ting, is not readily disturbed, and if it thinks you 

 don't see it, will let you pass by without any move- 

 ment on its part. Such, at least, has been my ex- 

 perience. Chamberlain mentions " a cooing note 

 . . . that is low, soft, and sweet," uttered during the 

 nesting season. This I may have heard, but never 

 associated with these bitterns. 



These birds, which come to New Jersey about 

 April 15, do not remain, like the preceding, and spend 

 a winter about a warm, bubbling spring, that is, do 

 not do so voluntarily, but occasionally one has been 

 found out of season. Such birds were doubtless in 

 some way disabled, for it is hard at times to distin- 

 guish them from the king-rails that are so common in 

 the same marshes, and many are killed every year, and 

 necessarily some are slightly wounded. Such birds 

 would not migrate or attempt it, and may possibly 

 be able to survive an " open" winter. In the height 

 of " reed and rail" shooting the least bittern will 

 often, when flushed, take refuge in a tree and assume 

 a very unbird-like attitude, so that it is not readily 

 seen unless you follow the bird in its flight. Its 

 colors blend well with the surroundings, and, as a 

 whole, the bird bears a good deal of resemblance to 

 a broken branch. 



