AMERICAN BITTERN; STAKE-DRIVER 69 



bitterns which either have got through the labors of 

 breed ins: or are now first able to shift for themselves. 

 And likewise blue herons, which have bred, or been bred 

 not far from us (plainly), are now at leisure, or are im- 

 pelled to revisit our slow stream. I have not seen the 

 last since spring. 



Oct.^ 26, 1858. He * says that some call the stake- 

 driver " belcher-squelcher," and some, " woUerkertoot." 

 I used to call them " pump-er-gor'." Some say " slug- 

 toot." 



Nov. 17, 1858. I am surprised to see a stake-driver 

 fly up from the weeds within a stone's throw of my 

 boat's place. It drops its excrement from thirty feet in 

 the air, and this falling, one part being heavier than an- 

 other, takes the form of a snake, and suggests that this 

 may be the origin of some of the stories of this bird 

 swallowing a snake or eel which passed through it. 



April 17, 1860. Looking off on to the river meadow, 

 I noticed, as I thought, a stout stake aslant in the 

 meadow, three or more rods off, sharp at the top and 

 rather light-colored on one side, as is often the case ; 

 yet, at the same time, it occurred to me that a stake- 

 driver often resembled a stake very much, but I thought, 

 nevertheless, that there was no doubt about this being 

 a stake. I took out my glass to look for ducks, and my 

 companion, seeing what I had, and asking if it was not 

 a stake-driver, I suffered my glass at last to rest on it, 

 and I was much surprised to find that it was a stake- 

 driver after all. The bird stood in shallow water near 

 a tussock, perfectly still, with its long bill pointed up- 



1 [Minott.] 



