Storks, Herons, and Pelican Tribe 



447 



the order of the day. This amusement is varied by the nestlings climbing out among the 

 branches till they reach the top of the tree, whence they can have a good look-out, and can 

 see the old birds returning home from a long distance, though they are in many cases often 

 mistaken in their identity." 



A common North American bird is the so-called GREEN HERON, known by many local 

 aliases, such as " Fly-up-the-Creek," "Chalk-line," and "Chuckle-head." Seen at short range, 

 its plumage is lustrous and 

 beautiful, but this disappears 

 as soon as the bird takes 

 wing. The nest is of very 

 loose construction ; and a story 

 is told of one which was such 

 a shaky concern that every 

 time the old birds jarred it a 

 . stick fell off, and the structure 

 grew smaller and smaller, until 

 the day when the young were 

 ready to fly there were but 

 three sticks left ; finally these 

 parted, and the little herons 

 found themselves perching on 

 the branch that once held 

 the nest ! 



THE BITTERNS. 



These are birds of a re- 

 markable type of coloration, 

 adapted to aid their skulking 

 habits. The coloration partakes 

 so completely of the nature of 

 the undergrowth among which 

 they dwell, that, aided by 

 certain peculiar habits de- 

 scribed below, they succeed in 

 harmonising so perfectly with 

 their surroundings as to render 

 themselves invisible to their 

 enemies. 



The besl>known species is 

 the COMMON BITTERN, though 

 this epithet is no longer 

 applicable, for at the present 

 time it is but an occasional 

 visitant to Britain. Once 

 it was plentiful enough, as the frequent references both in prose and poetry bear witness. 

 These references have been inspired mainly by its very peculiar note, made apparently only 

 during the breeding-season. This sound is variously described as "booming," "bellowing," and 

 "bumping," and many are the theories which have been invented to account for its origin. 

 Thomson, in "The Seasons," says that it is made whilst the beak is thrust into the mud: 



The bittern knows his time, with bill ingulf'd 



To shake the sounding marsh. 



Chaucer, that it is caused whilst it is immersed under water; and Dryden represents it as 



Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green. 



INDIAN CATTLE-EGKET. 



This is a species of buff-backed heron, and earns its name from its habit of hovering round cattle 

 for the sake of picking off the ticks by which they are infested. 



