132 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



twenty years since, 1798." It is not likely that any 

 other bird can have been mistaken for one of this 

 species, and although the above statement leaves 

 a great deal to be desired, I cannot think that there 

 can be any reasonable doubt as to correct identifi- 

 cation. The Little Bittern is an irregular and un- 

 common visitor to our country, but is by no means 

 exceedingly rare ; Mr. H. Saunders in his excellent 

 ' Manual of British Bnds,' says that there can 

 be little doubt that it has " even recently " bred 

 in Norfolk, and formerly did so in other localities. 

 I am glad to say that I have good reason to 

 believe that it has bred very recently in a southern 

 county with which I have some acquaintance. This 

 bird is a common summer visitor to most parts of 

 Central and Southern Europe, as well as to North 

 Africa, I have met with it from Seville to Cyprus, 

 as well as in the interior of Spain and in 

 Switzerland ; in haunts, habits, and attitudes it 

 much resembles the Common Bittern, but it is very 

 much more arboreal, and in the island of Corfu at 

 the season of vernal migration, I several times 

 detected one of these quaint birds perched in an 

 olive-tree at a considerable height from the ground. 

 In the marshes they are very averse to taking wing, 

 and glide through the aquatic vegetation almost as 

 rapidly as a Crake, but are easily to be caught by 

 hand, or by a dog. The only occupied nest of this 

 species that I have met with was placed between the 

 stems of a tamarisk at a few inches above the water, 

 and w^as built of dead twigs of that plant, dry pieces 

 of reed, and sedge ; the usual complement of eggs is 

 six, they are of a dull white, with occasionally a faint 

 tinge of green. In my school days a good many 



