COMMON BITTERN. 99 



during the months of May and June, and are then very fat, 

 and much esteemed for the table. The female makes her 

 nest among the high weeds which shade the banks of 

 rivers and pools, and lays two or three eggs. 



THE COMMOM BITTERN 



Is about two feet and a half in length : the general colour 

 of the plumage is a pale yellow, finely varied with spots 

 and bars of black ; the wings are ferruginous, regularly 

 barred with black ; the tail is short ; the legs of a pale 

 green. The female is something smaller, and her plumage 

 is less bright. 



Bitterns are found in England, and the temperate 

 countries of the Continent; they migrate in winter from 

 the severer climates. The Bittern is a shy and solitary 

 bird, concealing itself among the rushes, with its head so 

 placed as to see above them. It is courageous and fierce ; 

 and makes a violent resistance when wounded, often 

 turning on its back, and fighting with its beak and claws. 

 The beak, from its strength and sharpness, often inflicts a 

 very dangerous wound: on this account, old buzzards 

 never attack the Bittern, and the common falcons rush 

 upon it from behind, and when on the wing. The nest is 

 built of broken reeds &c., and placed as near as possible to 

 the water ; the eggs are of a dull green, and four or five 

 in number. The young are very helpless when first 

 hatched, and appear nearly all legs and neck. It is at 

 this time that the male utters the strange noise called 

 booming, which is compared to the deep bellowing of the 

 bull. It makes another strange noise when soaring high 

 in the autumn evenings after sunset : its flight is heavy. 

 The Bittern, in spite of its carnivorous appetite, is esteemed 

 for the table. 



