104 BITTERN. 



generally beats off such assailants. They are sometimes met 

 with at a distance from water; thus Meyer mentions one 

 shot on Burwood Common, near Walton, Surrey. They rarely 

 perch in trees, hut do so sometimes on their first arrival as 

 a means of shelter. More than one pair are seldom found 

 in one swamp, unless it is of very large extent. They cannot 

 be rendered tame, though they may be kept a few years in 

 confinement. If approached in their native fastnesses, they 

 lie immoveably still as long as it seems possible to succeed 

 in escaping observation or molestation, and if a person walks 

 round one, it turns itself as if on a pivot, without otherwise 

 moving, facing the intruder continually. 



Meyer observes, 'The manner in which the Bittern moves 

 its long neck is very remarkable: owing to the profusion of 

 loose feathers all down the neck, it is not visible how the 

 long neck is folded up in drawing it close to the body, and 

 extending it again immediately. When the neck is drawn 

 close to the body, and the head and beak lie in an horizontal 

 line on its back, the whole bird looks a clumsy thick lump 

 of feathers; and it may well startle any one who has never 

 met with a Bittern in a wild state, to see it lengthen itself 

 on a sudden, when in the act of flying up. The attitude 

 in which the Bittern shews itself to most advantage is when 

 it is in a passion, or under great excitement from fear; under 

 such circumstances it faces the danger with half-open wings, 

 and holds the tip of the beak in readiness for the onset, 

 while the loose plumage of the neck is raised, and the head 

 feathers erected so as to form a perfect circular crest. The 

 eyes of its opponent, whether man or beast, are then the 

 usual aim.' 



'It is very remarkable how the Bittern disentangles itself 

 from among the strong thick rushes, so as to gain room to 

 open its wings. The way in which this is managed is by 

 grasping the rushes with its long toes, and thus climbing to 

 the more pliable foliage of the plantation.' 



They do not fly far at a time, if disturbed, and then at 

 a dull and flagging pace. They walk slowly, and with much 

 apparent caution. 



They seek their prey, which consists of small animals, 

 moles, shrews, mice, and others, birds, fishes, leeches, lizards, 

 snakes, frogs, beetles, and other insects, by night. Sir William 

 Jardine has known a Water-Rail devoured whole by one, 

 and Mr. Yarrell found in another the remains of a Pike, of 



