THE WATER-MOTHER. 
153 
referring to the boggy places which it frequents, or to the 
singular" noise which it utters, generally in the hours of 
silence and darkness ; these show that it was once a bird 
well known, by its voice, at all events, to the common 
people. It has a plumage of a pale dull yellow, with black 
markings, and rust-coloured patches and shades, especially 
about the wings; the fullness of the feathers about the 
neck give to the bird a grotesque appearance, which, no 
doubt, has something to do with the odd names by which 
it is called. There is scarcely any tail, and the legs are 
set far back, so that it looks as if the creature must topple 
forward upon its beak, which is finer and sharper than that 
of the Heron. The legs are of a pale green colour, and the 
claws long and slender, the inside of the middle one being 
serrated, or toothed like a saw, for the better holding of its 
slippery prey, such as small fish, frogs, and lizards, from the 
Latin name of which kind of reptile, Stella^ the bird derives 
its specific title, stellaris. The French call it Eau-mere^ that 
is. Water-mother, from the moist places which it frequents. 
Selby says that the nest of the Bittern is composed of 
sticks, reeds, &c., and that it is generally placed on the 
ground near the water's edge, among the thickest herbage ; 
the eggs are four or five in number, of an even pale 
brown colour, uniform in shape at both ends ; the young 
are produced in about twenty-five days, and are fed by the 
parents until fully fledged. Yarrell says that he can only 
refer to three recent instances of Bitterns breeding in this 
country ; from which, no doubt, the draining of marshes 
and cultivation of extensive bogs and waste lands, by de- 
priving them of congenial haunts, have gradually driven 
them. Gould observes, that although not absolutely rare 
birds, yet their presence is not always to be reckoned on, 
for in one year they may be tolerably common, and then for 
several successive years not procurable at all. In the time 
of Henry VHI. they were in great esteem at the tables of 
the great, their flesh being considered in flavour like that 
of the hare. 
Although a hideling and a fugitive from man, the Bittern 
is, when attacked, a bold and even ferocious bird, striking 
with its sharp bill at the eyes of its assailant. If wounded, 
