262 Birds Every Child Should Know 
buff freckled fellow move as he stands waiting 
for prey to come within striking distance of 
what appears to be a dead stump. Sometimes 
he stands with his head drawn in until it rests 
on his back ; or, he may hold his head erect and 
pointed upward when he looks like a sharp 
snag. While he meditates pleasantly on the 
flavour of a coming dinner, he suddenly snaps 
and gulps, filling his lungs with air, then loudly 
bellows forth the most unmusical bird cry you 
are ever likely to hear. You may recognise it 
across the marsh half a mile away or more. A 
nauseated child would go through no more con- 
vulsive gestures than this happy hermit makes 
every time he lifts up his voice to call, pump- 
er-lunk, pump-er-lunk, pump-er-lunk. Still 
another noise has earned him one of his many 
popular names because it sounds like a stake 
being driven into the mud. 
A booming bittern I know sits hour after 
hour, almost every day in summer, year after 
year, on a dark, decaying pile of an old dock 
in the creek. Our canoe glides over the water 
so silently it rarely disturbs him. The timid 
bird relies on his protective colouring to con- 
ceal him in so exposed a place and profits by 
his fearlessness in broad daylight next to an 
excellent feeding ground. At low tide he walks 
about sedately on the muddy flats treading out 
a dinner. Kingfishers rattle up and down the 
