1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
253 
appearance at the north in March, and nest¬ 
building commences in May. The nest is upon 
low bushes growing in or overhanging the 
water, or in a tussock of sedge; it is built of 
coarse grasses and leaves, and lined with finer 
grasses. The eggs are four to six, light blue, 
mottled with brown. 
Usually there are 
two broods in a 
season, and when 
the last brood has 
left the nest the 
va rious fam i 1 ies j oin 
and form large 
flocks of one to two 
hundred. This is 
the time of tribula¬ 
tion to the farmer, 
as the birds give 
his grain-fields no 
quarter. It is said 
that localities near 
the sea-coast are 
more infested by 
them than far in¬ 
land, and that flocks 
containing a thou¬ 
sand birds are not 
rare. Of course, 
the farmer has, in 
self-defense, to use 
powder and shot to 
defend his crops, 
and by the time the birds start southward, in 
October, their numbers are materially di¬ 
minished. Some set poison to destroy the 
birds, but this is not to be commended. 
Impregnation of Eggs. —“ M. K. W.,” 
Marietta, Ohio. The process of the impregna¬ 
tion of eggs is one that we know but little 
about, and one on which intelligent farmers can 
do much to enlighten themselves and others by 
close and accurate observation. It is generally 
supposed that hens’eggs require each a distinct 
impregnation. It is 
known that turkeys’ 
eggs reeluire but one 
impregnation to fer¬ 
tilize the whole con¬ 
tents of the ovary 
for one season. It 
is therefore unneces- . 
sary for a farmer 
to keep a turkey- 
cock if he can pro- 
- cure its services on 
one single occasion. 
In England, tur¬ 
key-cocks are loan¬ 
ed or hired in this 
way regularly. Pro¬ 
fessor Agassiz re¬ 
cently mentioned in 
one of his lectures 
that it had been 
stated that a turkey 
lieu which lost her 
nest of eggs would 
lav another setting 
which would be 
fertile without the 
repeated presence of the male turkey, but that 
he could not vouch for it; if true, it was an in¬ 
teresting fact which he would desire to have,de¬ 
termined. Any well authenticated cases of such 
an occurrence within the experience of any of 
our readers would be received by us with thanks^ 
f.reni'ely timid, ami that, upon severe- 1 occasions 
iie has come upon them suddenly, and they 
were so frightened that lie could knock them 
down with an oar. When wounded, they 
show fight, especialb/ if a dog is present, and 
with their large- hill they are capable of in- 
noticeable and val¬ 
ued for its beauty. 
Our commonest re¬ 
presentative of this 
family is the Bittern 
or Stake - driver— 
Botaurus lentigino- 
sus of the ornitho¬ 
logists — which is 
found all overNortli 
America. The 
length of this bird 
is 26£ inches; its 
bill is 2| inches 
long. Its general 
color is a brownish 
yellow, "which is 
mottled with dark -IjA,, .- 
brown and brown¬ 
ish red; upon each 
side of the neck there is a broad black stripe 
which starts behind the ear. This is less noc¬ 
turnal in its habits than most others of the 
Heron family, and is therefore more frequently 
seen. It is especially common in the northern 
New England States, arriving from the South 
in March and April, and remaining until Oc¬ 
tober. Its food is fishes, frogs, and probably 
small mammals, and insects, which it pursues 
with great industry. Like others of its family, 
it is social during the breeding season, but soli¬ 
tary at other times. A dozen or more pairs 
will build their nests within a small area. Their 
nests are built of 
twigs, leaves, and 
grass, and are placed 
on low bushes or 
on thick tufts of 
grass. The eggs 
are usually four, of 
a rich drab color. 
This bird gets the \ 
name of Stake- 
driver from the 
peculiar note of the 
male at the breed¬ 
ing season, which s 
is so like the sound 
made by driving a t 
stake with a mallet, 
that persons have 
been deceived by it, 
and in endeavoring 
to find the work¬ 
man have been led 
into the swampy 
haunt of the birds. 
One author renders 
. the note of the bird 
as chunk - a- lunlc- 
chunfc, quank-chunk-a-lunk-chunk. The young 
-birds are able to take care of themselves in 
August, when the colony breaks up. Audubon 
seems to have known but little about this very 
common bird, as in till bis experience he never 
found a nest. He says that the bird is ex- 
BITTERN OR STAKE-DRIVER. 
Hiding severe wounds, and prove themselves 
no insignificant antagonists when attacked. 
The Red-wing Blackbird. 
It is a pity that so handsome a bird as the 
Red-wing or Swamp Blackbird should have a 
bad character. When the farmer counts up his 
feathered friends this bird is not among them. 
He lias reason to regard this bird as his enemy 
when lie is obliged with “ force and arms ” to 
drive it nwav from bis grain-fields. The male 
RED-WING OR SWAMP BLACKBIRD. 
i is a very showy bird ; ils plumage.is n shining, 
velvet black, with a greenish reflection, and its 
shoulders are of a bright vermilion red. The 
female wears a less showy dress, the prevailing 
colors being brown and brownish yellow, with 
white on the under parts. This bird makes its 
Tke Bittern or Stake-driver. 
Birds of the Heron family are quite sure to 
attract popular attention on account of their 
large size and their striking form. Their long- 
legs are formed for 
wading, aiid their 
long and bard bills 
indicate that they 
