66 



THE SWAN AND HER CREW. 



the bittern rose with a hoarse cry, and flew away with a dull, 

 heavy flight. And there, as good luck would have it, was its 

 nest, a large structure of sticks, reeds and rushes, and in it 

 were four eggs, large, round, and pale brown in colour. It 

 was not in human nature (or at least in boy nature) to resist 

 taking all the eggs. 



The bittern is a singular bird both in shape and habits. 

 Take a heron and shorten its legs, neck, and beak, and thicken 

 it generally, and then deepen its plumage to a partridge-like 

 brown, and you will have a pretty good idea of the bittern. At 

 one time it was common enough in England, but the spread of 



BITTERN. 



cultivation, the drainage of the marshes, and the pursuit of 

 the collector have rendered it rare ; and while at some seasons 

 it is pretty common all over the country where there are places 

 fit for its breeding-ground, in other years scarcely a specimen 

 can be seen, and its nest is now but rarely found. Its curious 

 note has often puzzled the country people. It has been said 

 to put its head under water or into a hollow reed, and then to 

 blow, and so make a noise something like that produced by 

 the famous blowing stone in the Vale of the White Horse. 



