36 WILD LII-H IN CHINA. 



inereK- adds to the orchestral effect. Nature evidently meant 

 the bittern to play the big drum. At any rate we hear him 

 "booming from his sedge shallow" as though he, at least, 

 believes that his good lad}' liked to listen. 



Bitterns nest on the ground, and la>- four eggs so tinted 

 that they, too, are as little likely to be seen as their parent. 

 Except when migrating and well under way the bitterns are 

 slow and awkward flyers, flapping clumsily along with neck 

 outstretched and legs dangling, as though that was the last 

 thing they really enjoyed ; and so indeed it would seem, for 

 the>- do not rise until forced, trusting, as a quail or a bamboo 

 partridge will do, to protective covering for effective conceal- 

 ment. Generally too, their confidence is well-founded, for 

 the number of bitterns put up is as a rule remarkably small. 



•Oiff ♦ X::> - 



