LEAST BITTERN 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



Ctie J^attonal Basiomtion of Hutuiion ^ocittitfi 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 98 



One morning, early in May, I pushed an old flat-bottomed boat through 

 the reeds growing along the shore of a shallow southern lake until reaching an 

 open place, I dropped my baited hook among the lily-pads. The sun had 

 but recently risen, and the plant-life on every hand was glistening with dew. 

 The morning was very still, and the squawk of a slow-flying Heron came dis- 

 tinctly across the water from a 

 distance of a quarter of a mile. 

 On a nearby bush a Red-winged 

 Blackbird balanced and saluted 

 with song the new day. Kong-quer- 

 ree, kong-quer-ree, came his musical 

 voice over and over again. In the 

 woods along the shore Cardinals 

 called incessantly, and a Carolina 

 Wren threw to the air a tempest 

 of melody. A Woodpecker some- 

 where was tapping on a dead limb, 

 and a Fish Crow flew over without 

 a sound. 



It was good to be on this quiet 

 lake, where no farmhouse was 

 within sight and into whose soli- 

 tude the shriek of a locomotive 

 whistle never entered. While sit- 

 ting here enjoying the tranquil 

 surroundings, I suddenly noticed 

 a movement among the tops of a 

 clump of rushes, perhaps fifty feet 

 away. Three or four of them 

 appeared to be swaying ever so 

 gently, and yet they surely were 

 in motion. A moment later there 

 appeared an object just coming 

 into view from below, indistinct 

 and yet real. It appeared the 

 same color as its surroundings — 



FEMALE LEAST BITTERN "FREEZING" 



UPON APPROACH OF ENEMY 



Photographed by Arthur A. Allen 



(198) 



