Pumping 
of^^ne 
Bittera 
After passing the Herons, I discovered the Bittern 
among some low bushes above which his head and a portion of 
the neck protruded. The sunlight struck full on the side 
of the head and neck which exactly resembled a cluster of 
stems of bleached grass. After awhile the head and neck 
turned away from me so slowly that I could detect no motion 
whatever, but as the grayish crown and nape were presented 
in my direction they formed what looked precisely like a 
weathered, barkless stake. Indeed, for awhile I thought 
that the Bittern had skulked off and that I was really 
watching a stake. 
At length the head came slowly back to its first 
position. Then the bill dpened and shut five times in suc¬ 
cession, with a spiteful snapping motion, the white throat 
dilating and flashing between each snap as if the bird 
were gulping in air, the usual plumping sound accompanying 
each gulp. The snaps became more and more rapid and 
emphatic until, immediately after the fifth and last, the 
bird pumped three times. With the first syllable ( pump ) 
the bill was opened wide and jerked downward a little below 
the horizontal, at the next syllable (er) it was tossed 
upward apparently closed or nearly so, at the last syllable 
( lump ) it was opened very wide and brought abruptly down 
to a little below the horizontal again. Thebird did not 
lengthen his neck nor change his crouching attitude per¬ 
ceptibly while pumping. Indeed, the motions which 
