THE OOLOGIST. 



83 



slightly incubated. One of them was 

 peculiar in shape, being equally thick at 

 both ends. This set was probably laid 

 by the bird whose nest I had robbed on 

 April 19. 



We took another set of two eggs on 

 April 17, '92, near the Patuxent, about 

 half a mile below nest No. 2. They 

 were on the ground in a little cave un- 

 der a rock, about six feet from its en- 

 trance, incubation seemed to have 

 been commenced, but the eggs were 

 cold when found. 



I have alluded to the "nest" of the 

 Turkey Vulture, but in every case the 

 eggs and the young were found on the 

 leaves, rottten wood, etc., that nature 

 had provided. Sometimes, but not al- 

 ways, a very slight depression had been 

 made in the ground. 



Harold B. Stabler, 

 Sandy Spring, Maryland. 



Tiie AmBrican Bittern. 



Bota u rus lentig Inos u « . 



There is probably no bird so noted 

 and famous, and yet, whose habits and 

 appearance are so little known to the 

 general public, as this uncouth bird 

 I have under a bell-glass, besides a 

 number of the smaller waders, a speci- 

 men of the Least Bittern and one of the 

 American Bittern. The remarks made 

 by those of my visitors not connected 

 with our hobby, yet sufficiently inter. 

 ested to pay a little attention to birds 

 are usually .something to this effect. 

 "What country did you get that bird 

 from?". " You never got it around 

 here," "What kind of a crane is that?" 

 "Did you get the old one and young 

 one together?" and one lady, refering 

 to the small waders about, and sup- 

 posing probably that long legs implied 

 relationship, nearly drove me wild with 

 the query "Ami is that old one, the 

 mother of them all?' 1 and yet among 

 those same people there was perhaps 



not one, who could not repeat lines 

 from many of the poets, referring to the 

 Booming Bittern. 



The Indian Hen, Bog Bull, Bog Trotter, 

 Plum Puddeu, Thunder Pump, or Stake 

 Diver, arrives in Perth County, usually 

 during the first week of April, but in 

 one or two exceptionally cold seasons, 

 I have not seen an arrival before the 

 middle of the month. 



Sobn the mating season begins. Then 

 Botaurus is constantly engrossed in en- 

 deavours to propitiate his loved one, 

 and from this time till well unto the 

 period of incubation, his peculiar love 

 notes may be heard, issuing from the 

 bog in which he proposed to make his 

 home. Let us endeavor to obtain a 

 peep at the lover while he sings his 

 serenade. In order to accomplish this 

 we must be very careful that he does 

 not first get a peep at us, for Botaurus 

 is to shy to sing before company. After 

 quite a search Ave discover him stand- 

 ing in a shallow pool. He has been en- 

 gaged in the pursuit of fish, frogs and 

 other reptiles, which with insects form 

 his diet. Suddenly he pulls himself 

 together iuto a bunch, stretches out his 

 neck in wavelike motions, and in a 

 most methodical and apparently strain- 

 ed manner begins his cry, which sounds 

 very like the syllables, chunk -a-lunk- 

 chunk, qvank-ch'un 1 G-a-lunk-chunk. We 

 laugh outright at the performance — he 

 springs into the air with a croak and 

 laboriously flies off with his legs dang- 

 ling down behind. My companion re- 

 marks that it would require very little 

 practice to take that bird on the wing 

 and we agree unanimously. 



The nest, which is -situated in the 

 most villianous part of an almost im- 

 passible swamp, is composed of reeds, 

 grasses, and a few leaves, and is, from 

 its situation, usually damp and soggy. 

 The nest is rather large, sometimes as 

 much as fourteen inches deep, but usu- 

 ally not more than half that depth and 

 has a cavity about as large as a saucer, 



