A COURAGEOUS BITTERN, 



107 



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they were golden plovers. Their flight and evolu- 

 tions are exactly like that of those birds. On, on 

 they come ; not in a direct course, till at length, by 

 an erratic dash, you may, ifmilitarily inclined, say, "a 

 flank movement," they are nearly overhead, when a 

 salvo of four barrels greets them. Stop not to collec 

 the dead ; in with fresh cartridges into your breeches, 

 for as soon as the astonished birds have recovered 

 from their alarm they will again mass their scattered 

 ranks, and, by many a sweep over their dead and 

 maimed comrades, endeavour to learn what attraction 

 it is that binds them to the fatal spot. It is too bad 

 to avail ourselves of this aff'cction that prevents a 

 comrade deserting a chum, but we do, and again there 

 is a shower of duck falling upon the river's surface. 

 The last discharge has taught a lesson, and away go 

 the survivors in precipitous flight ; but, alas ! only to 

 be dealt with likewise by the next sportsman that 

 they come across. These confiding birds are the 

 blue-winged teal, unknown on the eastern side of the 

 Atlantic. They are also a table bird of great 

 excellence, and quite equal to their congeners pre- 

 viously described. An incident, but a common one, 

 occurred this day on the Litt Sioux. Boatswain, 

 while searching for a wingeo mallard, flushed a 

 bittern ; it was a long shot — I may say a very long 

 shot — but these birds are soft in plumage, and, there- 

 fore, eas'ly disabled from further flights, so, after my 

 dog had found the crippled duck, he returned for the 

 victim of my last discharge. However, it evinced 

 no disposition to be obliging, so showed fight. My 

 retriever's past experience of such encounters made 

 him cautious now, so he made a feint to throw the 

 enemy off its guard, when he successfully got his 

 paws upon its neck and body. 



Many a young dog has been ruined by these birds, 

 not a few blinded, and one 1 know of, killed. Even 

 the sportsman should be guarded in approaching 



