90 WATER BIRDS 



190. AMERICAN BITTERN. — Botaums lentiginosus. 



(Common names : Marsh Hen ; Stake-driver ; Thunder 



Pump.) 



Family • The Herons, E,grets, and Bitterns. 



Length: 29.00. 



Adults : Crown and nape slate-color, more or less tinged with light brown ; 

 a black stripe on either side of the neck ; back irregularly mottled 

 chestnut, blackish, and light brown ; quills and coverts gray, tipped 

 with chestnut ; under parts light brown to pale bufl'y-white on throat, 

 striped with darker. 



Yovmg : Similar to adults. 



Geographical Distribution : Temperate North America, south to Gua- 

 temala. 



Breeding Range : From the Middle States northward. In California in 

 limited numbers. 



Breeding Season : May and June. 



Nest: A loose mat of marsh vegetation or grasses; on the ground in 

 swampy places. 



Jiggs: 3 to 5 ; light olive. Size 1.90 X 1.50. 



This much-scorned bird, for whom neither sportsman 

 nor ornithologist has much regard, is common in nearly 

 every marsh and slough throughout the United States at 

 some season of the year. It is called " Fly up the creek," 

 " Stake-driver," " Bog-bull," and other names too un- 

 pleasant to mention. Most of them bear some reference 

 to its peculiar love song, called commonly " pumping." 

 The sound is somevi^hat like the noise of a distant pile- 

 driver, and is at once recognized as soon as heard. The 

 birds may be both heard and seen in the marshes at 

 Alviso and in Los Angeles County, California. Only two 

 things are required by the observer, — patience and 

 leisure. Twilight and daw!i are the hours at which they 



