VOL. xm.] BITTERN IN THE NORFOLK BROADS. 7 



The Bittern does not always nest amidst the densest cover, 

 nor in the most inaccessible reed-beds. One nest I saw in 

 1918 was certainly in deep water, but only a few feet from a dry 

 rand.* On May 6th, 1919, I photographed a nest with six 

 eggs. A normal clutch of Bittern's eggs consists of four or five. 

 The nest was placed in quite an unusual situation. Hitherto 

 all that I have seen were in more or less dense reed-beds. This 

 one was in thin sedge not more than 18 or 20 inches high, and 



Fig I. NEST AND EGGS OF THE BITTERN. 



(Photographed by Emma L. Turner.) 



SO sparse that I was able to photograph the nest and eggs 



through the surrounding vegetation. This nest was found 



accidentally on April 26th by a man who did not know at the 



time what kind of a nest it was. It then contained two eggs. 



On May 4th there were six eggs and the Bittern was flushed 



from the nest. 



There is a considerable difference between the young Bitterns 



when hatched, but as they all hatch within three or four days, 



* " Rond," or " rand." The swampy margin of a river or broad. 

 Usually applied to the boggv ground between the water and the river 

 vvall. 



