" BIRD OF DESOLATION." 219 



Tlip bittern and the heron we class together, because 

 both are long-legged, sedate, and stalkmg birds ; waders, 

 which advance far into the water, and patiently stand, as 

 if petrified, waiting for their prey. 



The male bittern is well known by his peculiar boom- 

 ing cry, which at night rings out across the fens with a 

 most melancholy sound. 



His nest, of reeds, twigs, and grass, is built on the 

 ground, in the shelter of the thickest herbage, and close 



^^ 



^^i^g^m^M 



to the water's brink. Here the female deposits four or 

 five eggs of a light brown colour, and almost perfect oval 

 shape. 



Owing to his solitary habits, and his aversion to the 

 neighbourhood of man, the bittern is put forward in 

 Scripture as the bird of desolation. When attacked, his 

 self-defence is very vigorous ; and as he resists to 



