492 CLASS AVES. 



from the male, though some authors say that her size is less, 

 her colours more dull, and the feathers of the head and neck 

 are shorter. Neither are the differences in the young very 

 strongly marked. 



The names of Stellaris and Asterias, given to this bird 

 by the ancients, appear to be derived from its flight, — which 

 every evening it appears to direct towards the stars, — rather 

 than from the spots upon its plumage, which are arranged in 

 pencils, rather than star-wise. Wilder than the heron, it 

 remains during the entire day in marshes of a certain extent, 

 which abound in rushes, and near ponds surrounded by woods, 

 where it places its safety in retreat and inaction, taking care, 

 from time to time, to raise its head above the reeds, to exa- 

 mine what is passing around it, without being perceived by 

 the fowlers. Its only movement is that of occasionally dart- 

 ing on the frogs, or small fish, which make their appearance 

 before it. In autumn, however, it is said to proceed into the 

 woods to hunt rats, which it catches very dexterously, and 

 swallows entire. 



The astounding voice of the bittern appears to be a cry of 

 appeal, which is frequently heard in the months of February 

 and March, and is intended to make known to the female, 

 who is habitually distant, the place in which the male is con- 

 cealed. It is said that the females of this species are more 

 numerous than the males ; and that the former often come to 

 the latter in considerable numbers. But such facts are very 

 difficult to be accurately known respecting birds of so dis- 

 trustful a character. The cry, however, above-mentioned, 

 cannot be merely the expression of amorous desire, for it is 

 heard at the period of the harvest, and, consequently, long 

 after that of reproduction. 



The bitterns make their nest in the month of April, in the 

 midst of reeds, upon a tuft of rushes. The eggs are four or 

 five in number, of a green ash-colour. The incubation lasts 

 twenty-four or twenty-five days, and the young ones are 



