OPEN NESTS 145 



rally breeding in isolated pairs, although there is 

 some evidence to suggest reproduction in colonies by 

 the American Bittern {Botaurus lentiginosus). The 

 typical nest is made upon the spongy ground in 

 swamps, and is a flat basket-like structure of dead 

 flags, rush leaves and reeds, the finer materials being 

 reserved for the shallow central depression which 

 contains the eggs. The amount of material used 

 depends a good deal upon the exact location of the 

 nest, those in the wettest spots being almost in- 

 variably the bulkiest. The Little Bittern {Botaurus 

 mhmtns) sometimes builds a nest firmly moored to 

 reeds growing in the water, and may then almost 

 be described as a floating structure. Bitterns are 

 said occasionally to make a flat nest of sticks, twigs, 

 coarse grass and leaves in the branches of trees, but 

 this must be very exceptional. The Spoonbills (Plata- 

 leidae) and the Ibises (Ibididae) are very similar in their 

 nest-building methods, and, as usual, we find a double 

 type, one placed on the ground in swamps, the other 

 on more or less lofty trees or large bushes. These 

 birds, like the Herons, are more or less gregarious. 

 Spoonbills nest in swamps, on the shallow margins 

 of lakes, and in dense water-logged forests of alder 

 and willow and in other trees by the side of water, 

 returning each season to certain spots for the purpose 

 of reproduction. When made in branches the nest 

 consists of a large pile of sticks more or less care- 

 lessly interlaced, the cavity containing the eggs being 



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