266 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



hardly be fitting to omit some mention of the 

 bittern, which is scientifically classified amongst 

 the heron tribe (the Herodiones). Time was when 

 this bird was far from uncommon in Britain. It 

 is, alas ! now so rare as to excite the attention 

 of the public in the newspapers. Persecution and 

 drainage have been the causes of its being at 

 present so infrequently seen in this country. One 

 was shot in Berkshire, near Farringdon, during 

 last winter, 1894-95, and its destruction was, I 

 am glad to say, purely accidental ; and, as I am 

 given to understand, no one regretted it more 

 than the farmer who, when waiting for duck in 

 the twilight, .killed it, not discerning what kind 

 of bird it was.*- 



I believe that some few other specimens 

 were also obtained during the past winter in 

 various localities. No bird is, of its kind, more 

 beautiful in colour or shape than the bittern, 

 the rich brown, almost black, markings con- 

 trasting so perfectly with the lighter tan colour. 

 The neck-feathers, which are long, soft and ex- 

 quisitely mottled, partake rather of the character 

 of a ruff than of a plume, and are continued 

 further round the neck than in the heron, those 

 on the crown and nape being black, forming a 

 kind of crest, somewhat square and decided in 

 shape. The note of this bird is hoarse and deep, 



* A friend of mine also shot a bittern during the past winter 

 within two hundred yards of my house. 



