AMERICAN BITTERN ; STAKE-DRIVER 69 



bitterns which either have got through .the labors of 

 breeding or are now first able to shift for themselves. 

 And likewise blue herons, which have bred or been bred 

 not far from us (plainly), are now at leisure, or are im- 

 pelled to revisit our slow stream. I have not seen the 

 last since spring. 



Oct. 26, 1858. He * says that some call the stake- 

 driver " belcher-squelcher," and some, " wollerkertoot." 

 I used to call them " pump-er-gor'." Some say " slug- 

 toot." 



Nov. 17, 1858. I am surprised to see a stake-driver 

 fly up from the weeds within a stone's throw of my 

 boat's place. It drops its excrement from thirty feet in 

 the air, and this falling, one part being heavier than an- 

 other, takes the form of a snake, and suggests that this 

 may be the origin of some of the stories of this bird 

 swallowing a snake or eel which passed through it. 



April 17, 1860. Looking off on to the river meadow, 

 I noticed, as I thought, a stout stake aslant in the 

 meadow, three or more rods off, sharp at the top and 

 rather light-colored on one side, as is often the case ; 

 yet, at the same time, it occurred to me that a stake- 

 driver often resembled a stake very much, but I thought, 

 nevertheless, that there was no doubt about this being 

 a stake. I took out my glass to look for ducks, and my 

 companion, seeing what I had, and asking if it was not 

 a stake-driver, I suffered my glass at last to rest on it, 

 and I was much surprised to find that it was a stake- 

 driver after all. The bird stood in shallow water near 

 a tussock, perfectly still, with its long bill pointed up- 



1 [Minott] 



