2 
Botaurus lentiginosus. 
1891, Mass. 
May 17 . Belmon t T — 
In the intervals between the pumping spells our Bit¬ 
tern rarely iroved other than by turning his .head slightly to one 
or the other^ c or by lengthening or shortening his neck. Both 
motions reminded one of those of a snake, being equally slow and 
guarded, as if he feared or were anxious to elude observation, 
which was doubtless the case. When a wagon rattled in the dis¬ 
tance or a Grow or other large bird appeared over the meadow, 
the Bittern would stretch up to his full length, with body plu¬ 
mage contracted, neck somewhat swelled, head, neck and body all 
in line, the bill pointing almost straight upward. If the back 
of the neck was towards us its shape and coloring( gray ish-brown) 
gave it a wonderfully close resemblance to a weather-beaten stake 
projecting above the grass. If the yellowish-white throat and 
golden-brown fore-neck were presented, the resemblance to an up¬ 
right bleached flag or cat-tail stalk was equally perfect. Nei¬ 
ther stake nor flag could have remained more absolutely immov¬ 
able than did the Bittern at such times. He evidently appreci¬ 
ated the advantage which his protective form and coloring, 
joined to the length of his neck,gave him for commanding an ex¬ 
tensive view over the meadow and at the same time escaping being 
himself observed. The Red-wings, however, were not deceived, for 
every now and then one of them would discover and dart dowr/at 
him spitefully. These attacks were received with calm indiffer¬ 
ence, in fact were ignored, but when a pair of Black Ducks ap¬ 
peared flying over the -meadow with noisy quacking, the Bittern 
showed evident alarm, and at once concealed himself in the grass. 
When not apprehensive of danger, the bird's attitude was often 
easy and graceful, the back well arched or rounded, the breast 
plumage hanging down loosely, the neck well down, hut the bill 
invariably raised above the horizontal line. The usual position 
however, was about midway between the two just described, the 
neck being stretched stiffly forward and upward and nearly in 
line wi th the sloping body. When the bird stood in profile, the 
lomg black stripe on the side of the neck was very conspicuous. 
The attitudes just described may be roughly sketched thus: 
14-5 
