72 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



This notion that water is employed in the pro- 

 duction of the bittern's notes has been generally 

 entertained. The notes themselves are of a char- 

 acter to suggest such an hypothesis, and at least 

 one witness has borne circumstantial testimony 

 to its truth. In Thoreau's essay on the " Natu- 

 ral History of Massachusetts/' he says : 



" On one occasion, the bird has been seen by 

 one of my neighbors to thrust its bill into the 

 water, and suck up as much as it could hold ; 

 then, raising its head, it pumped it out again 

 with four or five heaves of the neck, throwing it 

 two or three feet, and making the sound each 

 time." 



Similar statements have been made as to the 

 corresponding notes of the European bittern. 

 None of our systematic writers upon American 

 ornithology have ever witnessed the performance, 

 as far as appears, and being too honest to draw 

 upon their imaginations, they have left the matter 

 a mystery. Now, on this auspicious May after- 

 noon, if we learned nothing else, we could at all 

 events make quite sure whether or not the bittern 

 did really spout water from his beak. 



My readers will have guessed already that our 

 bird, at least, did nothing of the sort. His bill 

 was never within reach of water. The operation 

 is a queer one, hard to describe. 



