THE LEAST BITTERN 



67 



her post, while the male marched off through the 

 reeds in the manner which has been described as so 

 remarkable. When he paused, with either foot 

 grasping reeds several inches apart or clung to a 

 single stalk with 

 both feet, he re- 

 sembled a gigan- 

 tic, tailless Marsh 

 Wren. 



The actions of 

 the female were in- 

 teresting in the 

 extreme. Her first 

 move was an at- 

 tempt at conceal- 

 ment through pro- 

 tective mimicry a 

 rare device among 

 birds. Stretching 

 her neck to the 

 utmost, she pointed 

 her bill to the ze- 

 nith, the brownish 

 marks on the feath- 

 ers of the throat be- 

 came lines which, 

 separated by the 

 white spaces be- 

 tween them, might easily have passed for dried 

 reeds, and the bird's statuelike pose, when almost 

 within reach, evinced her belief in her own invisi- 

 bility. 3334 



The pose recalled Hudson's experience with a 



33. Least Bittern on nest mimicking its sur- 

 roundings. 



