102 SHOOTING, 



CHAPTEE Xn. 



TEN-BIRD SHOOTING. 



This is an extensive field of sporiing* recreation with tlie gun, 

 and embraces an immense variety of game. It has, however, a dis- 

 tinctive character; and though its objects of sport are numerous, 

 there is still such a family bieuess runnhig through them, as to 

 warrant their being brought under one particular head of treat- 

 ment. 



The Bittern {ArdeaStellaris,lAmi) bears a strong resemblance to 

 the heron family, only it is smaller, and has a different plumage. ; 

 The feathers on the top of its head are black, and those on the hind • 

 head, neck, and breast, are long and loose. The general colourof j 

 the bird is a dull pale yellow, but very interestingly variegated with \ 

 spots and bars of black. The greater covert and quill feathers are | 

 ferrugmous, and barred with black in a very regular manner. The | 

 tail is short, and the legs of a pale green hue, the toes and claws 

 are very long and slender, and the middle claw is serrated on the | 

 inner edge. The female is somewhat less than the male, audi 

 not of such a briglit plumage, the feathers on the neck not being j 

 so long and flowing. Its ' bill is considerably shorter than the 

 bill of the heron, and likewise weaker. It makes its nest among 

 rushes and sedges, and is in all respects a regular visitor of the 

 fen districts ; it makes its nest in April. _ The female lays from 

 four to six eggs, which are of a pale greenish ash colour, and she 

 sits upon them twenty-five days. _ Wlien they are hatched, the 

 young seem naked and ugly looking, having the appearance of 

 bemg all legs and neck ; they never venture from the nest until 

 about twenty days after they are hatched, during wliich time they 

 are carefully watched and fed by the old birds. Their common 

 food are slugs, small fish, and frogs. In Pebruary and March the 

 male bitterns make a deep hollow noise, morning and evening, 

 which ceases after the breedmg season commences. This is called 

 the booming of the bittern, and has been often noticed both by poets 

 and naturalists. Col. Montague observes: /'Those who have 

 walked, on a summer's evening, by the sedgy sides of unfrequented 

 rivers, must remember a variety of notes from different water fowl, 

 the loud scream of the wild goose, the croaking; of the mallard, the 

 whining of the lapwing, and the tremulous neighings of the jack- 

 snipe. But of all these sounds, there is none so dismally hollow as 

 the booming of the bittern. It is impossible for words togive those 

 who have not heard this evening call, an adequate idea of its solemn- 

 ity. It is like the interrupted bellowing of a bull, but hollower and 



