174 EVERYDAY ADVENTURES 
tinuation of the marsh, and decided that we had time 
for just one more exploring trip. Here we found the 
worst going of the day. In front of us were innum- 
erable dry cat-tail stalks and hollow reed-stems, 
while the mud was deeper and the mosquitoes were 
fiercer than in the main swamp. 
At last the Banker and the Architect sat down 
exhausted under a tree, while the Artist and myself 
planned to cross to a fringe of woods on the farther 
side before giving up. In the middle of the marsh 
we separated, and before long I found myself on the 
trail of another marsh hawk’s nest. It was evidently 
close at hand, for both the birds swooped down and 
circled around my head, calling frantically all the 
time. Look as I would, however, I could find no trace 
of the nest. We reached the woods without finding 
anything and came back together. When we were 
within two hundred yards of where the other two 
were luxuriously waiting for us in the shade, from 
under my very feet flapped a monstrous bird nearly 
three feet high. It was the bittern. I was so close 
that I could see the yellow bill, and the glossy black 
on the sides of the neck and tips of the wings, and 
the different shades of brown on back, head, and 
wings. As it sprang up, it gave a hoarse cry and 
flapped off with labored strokes of its broad wings. 
Right before me was a flat platform of reeds about a 
foot in diameter, well packed down and raised about 
five inches from the water. On this platform were a 
shred or so of down and four eggs of a dull coffee 
color. In a moment the Banker and the Architect 
