VOL. XIII.] FURTHER NOTES ON BITTERN. 35 



when seen in bright sunlight accentuates their likeness to the 

 reptiles. 



I saw them again two days later. They were a fine 

 healthy set of nestlings, still easy to handle, and showing 

 no disposition to fight. A week later (June 7th) all five 

 hastily retreated from the nest, one after the other, running 

 rapidly through a little path which led from the nest to thick 

 cover. We retrieved them one by one, and when brought 

 back they evinced considerable pugnacity. Still I was 

 possessed with the feeling that I was handling something 

 other than a bird, and as each in turn darted a vicious thrust 

 at my hand or eyes, I almost expected to see a forked tongue 

 thrust forth. The marsh was quite dry when I photographed 

 them on May 28th, but on June 7th the water had risen 

 considerably, so that it was almost up to my knees. The 

 nest, however, was safe, as the water had reached its highest 

 level and would fall during the next few days. 



The male was booming near, but his voice had broken 

 and he could only produce two resonant booms after several 

 trials. These preliminary gurgling sounds were like unsuc- 

 cessful attempts at blowing a bugle. Yet he had been the 

 champicn of the marshes. I have heard him boom seven, eight 

 a.nd even nine times in succession, especiallj' during the night 

 3f May 15th, when the moon was full. There is a marked 

 individuality about each Bittern's boom. One would like to 

 know whether the strength and peculiar resonance of some 

 males' voices, and the number of times they boom, is due to 

 age, or whether it is merely the result of individual virility. 

 For some weeks one male always produced five booms in 

 succession, with the usual two seconds' interval between 

 sach ; then, after a four seconds' pause, he boomed a sixth 

 time. After May 28th he dropped from six to five booms 

 with a four seconds' interval between the fourth and fifth. 

 But on the night of June nth, when the moon was nearly 

 full, he was again booming six times. 



One Bittern has boomed irregularly, and with obvious effort 

 ill the breeding season. By May 15th this bird failed to 

 produce more than one boom, preceded on every occasion b}' 



