174 THE COMMON BITTERN 



In Sir Thomas Browne's time, It was common in Norfolk, and was 

 esteemed a better dish than the Heron. 



Willughby, who wrote about the same time, 1676, says : 

 ' The Bittern, or Mire-drum, it is said, makes either three or five 

 boomings at a time — always an uneven number. It begins to 

 bellow early in February, and continues during the breeding season. 

 The common people believe that it thrusts its beak into a reed, 

 and by the help of this makes its booming. Others maintain 

 that it imitates the lowing of an ox by thrusting its beak into 

 water, mud, or earth. They conceal themselves among rushes 

 and reeds, and nol unfrequently in hedges, with the head and 

 neck erect. In autumn, after sunset, they are in the habit of 

 rising into the air with a spiral ascent, so high that they are lost 

 sight of. Meanwhile they utter a singular note, but not at all 

 resembling the characteristic ' booming '. 



It is called Botaurus, because it imitates boatum tauri, the bellow- 

 ing of a bull. Of ' Botaurus ', the names ' Bitour ' and Bittern 

 are evident corruptions ; and the following names, in different 

 languages, are all descriptive of the same peculiar note : Butor, 

 Rordump, Myredromble, Trombone, Rohrtrummel, Rohrdommel, 

 and Rordrum. 



Of late years, so unusual has the occurrence become of Bitterns 

 breeding in this country, owing to collectors, that the discovery 

 of an egg in Norfolk has been thought worthy of being recorded 

 in the transactions of the Linnean Society ; and even the appearance 

 of a bird at any season finds its way into the provincial newspapers 

 or the magazines devoted to natural history: Stuffed specimens 

 are, however, to be seen in most collections, where its form and 

 plumage may be studied, though its habits can only be learnt, at 

 least in England, from the accounts furnished by naturalists of a 

 past generation. It comes now only to be shot. 



The Bittern is a bird of wide geographical range, as it resorts, 

 more or less, to all countries of Europe and Asia. Specimens 

 are said to differ much in size, some being as large as the Heron, 

 others considerably less ; but there is no reason to suppose that 

 they are of different species, a similar variation having been 

 observed in other birds, as in the Curlew, for example, of which I 

 have had in my possession at once four or five specimens all of 

 different dimensions. 



The Bittern builds its nest on the ground, and lays four brown 

 eggs, which are tinged with ash or green. The old bird, if wounded, 

 defends itself in the same way as the Heron. 



