200 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



The Bittern came booming from marshes among; 

 The Heron, notorious for legs that are long, 

 From his trees* social city beside the moist fen, 

 Flew with wide flapping wing, to and fro, o'er the glen. 



coloured Heron or Qua-birdj is about two feet long; it is rare in 

 England ; more common in Russia and America. It is minutely 

 described by Wilson. The crown is crested, which, and the 

 hind head, is dark>blue, glossed with green ; three very narrow, 

 white, and tapering feathers, proceed from the hind head, about 

 nine inches long ; these the bird erects when alarmed ; back and 

 scapulars deep blue, glossed with green ; beneath white. It is 

 migratory in Pennsylvania ; called in America Qua-bird, from 

 its note Qua. 



The SlellariSf Bittern, Bittoury Bumpy-cossj Butter-Bump or 

 Miredrum^ is rather less than the common heron ; its plumage is, 

 in general, of a dull pale yellow, elegantly variegated with 

 spots and bars of black; the great coverts and quill feathers are 

 ferruginous, regularly barred with black ; legs pale green. In- 

 habits the temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and both Americas. 

 In this country it is found chiefly a few miles from the sea- 

 coast, in sedgy moors, where it breeds among reeds, laying four 

 or five eggs of a greenish ash-colonr. It feeds on fishes and 

 reptiles. About sun-set rises in the air to a vast height in a 

 spiral direction, makiirg a prodigious noise : 



" Swift as the bittern soars on spiral wing." 



Solthey's Curse of Kehama. 



It also makes, a peculiarly deep and hollow sound in the spring 

 during the breeding season, which is called by naturalists 

 booming: see below. It migrates from one part of the country 

 to another; but it is in this kingdom scarce, and esteemed a 

 rarity at the tables of the great. If brought down by the gtin 

 with only a broken wing, it displays great courage, and cannot 

 with safety be secured till deprived of life. " A bittern was 



