BISON 



754 



BITTERN 



ties. It is brittle, harder than lead, and 9.9 

 times heavier than water. One of its chief 

 uses is in the manufacture of "fusible metals," 

 or mixtures that melt at a low temperature. 

 For example, fusible metal, formed of eight 

 parts bismuth, five parts lead and three parts 

 tin, melts at 202 F., or ten degrees below the 

 boiling point of water. This metal can be 

 melted in a piece of stiff paper held over the 

 flame of a candle or lamp without burning 

 the paper. Fusible metals are used for plugs 

 in steam boilers to prevent explosions, in auto- 

 matic sprinkler systems designed for fire pro- 

 tection in large buildings and for various other 

 purposes. 



Some compounds of bismuth are used in the 

 manufacture of paint, and the subnitrate, a 

 white powder, is sometimes used as a remedy 

 for dyspepsia. 



BISON. See BUFFALO. 



BITHYNIA, bithin'iah, an ancient country 

 of Asia Minor, bounded on the north by the 

 Euxine, the old name for the Black Sea, and 

 separated from Europe by the Sea of Mar- 

 mora and the Bosporus. In early times the 



BIT 'TERN, a marsh bird of the heron fam- 

 ily, the most familiar species being the com- 

 mon bittern of North America, whose 

 remarkable, dismal cry, sounding like the 

 blow of an axe on a stake, has given it vari- 



LOCATION OF BITHYNIA 

 Greeks established in this region the colonies 

 of Chalcedon and Heraclea. Later, Nicaea, 

 Brusa and Nicomedia were flourishing cities, 

 the last-named being the royal residence of the 

 Emperor Diocletian. Bithynia became a Ro- 

 man province in 74 B. c., and under Trajan 

 was governed by Pliny the Younger. The lat- 

 ter wrote a famous letter to Trajan respecting 

 the treatment to be given the Christians of the 

 province, which shows that Christianity gained 

 a strong foothold there. 



THE BITTERN 



ous local names, as stake-driver, mire-drum, 

 bog-pumper, thunder-pump, etc. This bird 

 nests in lonely marshes and swamps, and in 

 summer is found north of Virginia as far as 

 the fur-bearing sections of Canada; in winter 

 it ranges from Virginia southward to the West 

 Indies. It is from twenty-five to thirty inches 

 in length, having a shorter neck and shorter 

 legs than the heron, but longer toes. The 

 upper parts of its body are brownish-buff, 

 spotted with reddish-brown and black, whence 

 its occasional name of freckled heron. Its 

 under parts are pale buff striped with brown, 

 and its legs are yellowish-green. The three 

 to five brownish-drab eggs are laid in a crude 

 nest that is merely a thick mat of coarse grass 

 placed on the ground. 



The bird is a solitary creature of many pecu- 

 liar habits. In the daytime it sometimes 

 stands motionless for hours, on the lookout 

 for frogs, lizards, large-winged insects and 

 meadow mice, on which it feeds, and at night 

 it becomes most active. Its gruesome call of 

 pump-er-lunk, pump-er-lunk, which comes 

 sounding over the marshes with solemn regu- 

 larity each evening, has given rise to many 

 absurd stories concerning it. Though its flesh 

 is prized by some, the bittern is not an im- 

 portant game bird. In Utah, where wild game 

 is not found in abundance, this bird is pro- 

 tected by law throughout the year, but most 



