Notes from Field and Study 



265 



prised to see her 'freeze,' when picture 

 making became easy. 



While I remained still, with a movement 

 so gradual as to be almost imperceptible, 

 the Bittern would stretch out her neck 

 and turn and start to walk away, but at a 

 call or a clap of the hands she would 

 'freeze' again, and then repeat the stealthy 

 effort to slink away. 



At times the wings would be dropped 

 to the ground and the crest feathers 



luck on her nest journey southward. — 

 Wilbur F. Smith, South Norwalk, Conn. 



Killdeer in Connecticut 



During the fall of 19 16 while repairs 

 were being made around the dam of one 

 of the local reservoirs, the water was 

 lowered about eighteen inches. This laid 

 bare a great area of lake bottom at the 

 upper end where the water is normally 



^<s....tf^J^ 



AMERICAN BITTERN 



raised, and when facing me the mass of 

 breast feathers would be fluffed out, giv- 

 ing her a formidable appearance which I 

 imagine caused her captor to run for the 

 blanket. 



After getting all the pictures I wished, 

 I gave her a toss into the air and she flew 

 off and alighted on the shore at the edge 

 of some salt-water grasses, and so per- 

 fectly did the yellows and browns of her 

 feathers blend with the yellowing grasses 

 that she seemed to vanish from sight, and 

 I left her hoping she would have better 



shallow and where a rich growth of vege- 

 table and minute animal life had existed. 

 In fact, the conditions very nearly dupli- 

 cated those existing around western 

 prairie sloughs in the summer as the 

 water slowly recedes by evaporation 

 leaving exposed such a wealth of food for 

 the waders. 



It was late in the afternoon, October 29, 

 while out walking that we first noticed 

 these unusually favorable conditions and 

 saw at that time, besides a Solitary 

 Sandpiper and one Greater Yellow-legs, a 



