456 



THE BITTERN. 



and lined with wool. The eggs are from four to five in number, and 

 their color is pale green. 



The Bittern is now seldom seen in this country, partly because it 

 is a rare bird and becoming scarcer almost yearly, and partly because 

 its habits are nocturnal, and it sits all day in the thickest reeds or other 

 aquatic vegetation. The marshy grounds of Essex seem to be the spots 

 most fiivored by this bird at the present day, although specimens are an- 

 nually killed in various parts of the country. 



lu habits and food the Bittern resembles the Heron, except that it 



feeds by night instead of 

 by day. Like that bird, 

 it uses its long sharp 

 beak as a weapon of of- 

 fence, and chooses the 

 eye of its adversary as 

 the point at which to aim. 

 The feet and legs are also 

 powerful weapcjns, and 

 when disabled from flight 

 the Bittern will fling it- 

 self on its back and fight 

 desperately with foot and 

 bill. 



The nest of the Bittern 

 is placed on the ground 

 near water, and concealed 

 among the rank vegeta- 

 tion that is found in such 

 localities. It is made of 

 sticks and reeds, and gen- 

 erally contains about four 

 or five pale-brown eggs. 

 The voice of the Bittern 

 varies with the season 

 of the year. Usually it is 

 a sharp, harsh cry uttered 

 on rising, but in the breeding season the bird utters a loud booming 

 cry that can be heard at a great distance. 



The general color of this fine bird is rich brownish bufi*, covered with 

 irregular streaks and mottlings of black, dark brown, gray, and chest- 

 nut. The top of the head is black with a gloss of bronze, the cheeks 

 are buff; and the chin white tinged with buflE". Down the front of the 

 neck the feathers are marked with bold longitudinal dashes of blackish 

 and reddish brown, and the feathers of the breast are dark brown broad- 



Herons and Bitterns. 

 1. Yellow-crowned Heron. 2. ftreat Heron 

 American Bittern. 4. Least Bittern. 



