334 VOICE. [CHAP. vn. 



nearly all the night * boom ! ' * boom ! ' in a loud 

 yet pleasant tone. Some Owls that were confined near 

 him also did now and then to the moon complain, on 

 which occasions the Bittern would swell his voice to its 

 utmost power, trying to drown their more feeble cry ; 

 but when the Eagle at an earlier period of the year 

 shrieked its desire for companionship and liberty, the 

 Bittern never noticed him, though during the months 

 of January and February his cry in the night is some- 

 what startling. 



*' I think we had a Bittern nearly five years. Our 

 Eagle we have had eight or nine ; he was brought from 

 Nova Scotia by a timber ship ; the captain kept him in 

 a crate, and when brought to me had only a few wing 

 feathers appearing : he is a noble fellow, and is looked 

 on with as much affection as any of my domestic 

 pets." 



