200 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



The Bittern came booming from marshes among; 

 The Heron, notorious for legs that are long, 

 From his trees' social city beside the moist fen, 

 Flew with wide flapping wing, to and fro, o'er the glen. 



coloured Heron or Qua-bird, is about two feet long; it is rare in 

 England ; more common in Russia and America. It is minutely 

 described by Wilson. The crown is crested, which, and the 

 hind head, is dark-blue, glossed with green ; three very narrow, 

 white, aud tapering feathers, proceed from the hind head, about 

 nine inches long; these the bird erects when alarmed ; back and 

 scapulars deep blue, glossed with green ; beneath white. It is 

 migratory in Pennsylvania ; called in America Qua-bird, from 

 its note Qua. 



The Stellaris } Bittern, Bittour, Bumpy-coss, Butter-Bump or 

 Miredrum, is rather less than the common heron ; its plumage is, 

 in general, of a dull pale yellow, elegantly variegated with 

 spots and bars of black ; the great coverts and quill feathers are 

 ferruginous, regularly barred with black ; legs pale green. In- 

 habits the temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and both Americas. 

 In this country it is found chiefly a few miles from the sea- 

 coast, in sedgy moors, where it breeds among reeds, laying four 

 or five eggs of a greenish ash-colour. It feeds on fishes and 

 reptiles. About sun-set rises in the air to a vast height in a 

 spiral direction, making a prodigious noise : 



" Swift as the bittern soars on spiral wing." 



Southey's Curse of Kehama, 



It also makes a peculiarly deep and hollow sound in the spring 

 during the breeding season, which is called by naturalists 

 booming: see below. It migrates from one part of the country 

 to another; but it is in this kingdom scarce, and esteemed a 

 rarity at the tables of the great. If brought down by the gun 

 with only a broken wing, it displays great courage, and cannot 

 with safety be secured till deprived of life. "A bittern was 



