position, when a t rest, is that o f sitting upon the whole length of the tarsi, with-the neck bent, the head
thrown back, and the kill pointing almost perpendicularly upwards.
“ It is a matter o f surprise,” says Meyer, “ how the Little Bittern puts in practice one o f its habits,
namely that of climbing or running up and down a perpendicular branch of a tree with as much ease as if
it walked on the ground. The necessity of placing its feet in a line makes, the circumstance unavoidable of
crossing its legs at every step, while the formation o f its feet .is apparently adapted only for the purpose of
wading. The length and pliability of the toes and the arched and sharply-pointed claws materially aid the
bird in retaining its hold.” This remarkable habit is fully confirmed by the following note, with which Mr. C.
Buxton Inis favoured me Fox Warren, Cobham. Dec. 15, 1862. I have two Little Bitterns alive.
Their ways and attitudes are the strangest I ever saw. They live entirely on the boughs o f a rose-tree that
creeps up the wall of the house. They never wade, but evidently only have the idea o f hanging-011
and striking at their prey as it passes. I shall be happy to lend them to you if you care to watch th em ;
they would live in a basket, and only require a little raw meat. Nobody can help laughing who sees them
for the first time, with their beaks pointed to heaven, their eyes peering out at right angles, and their legs
straddled out.”
“ The Little Bittern,” continues Meyer, “ is very artful in.keeping itself out of sight, and also in deceiving
the greater number o f its enemies, when.in an unsheltered spot, by placing itself in a stiff unnatural position
when it. perceives the approach of danger, in which it remains so immovable, and for so long a time, that,
when it is obliged at last to take wing, i t flies up with such unexpected noise that the sportsman is generally
too much taken by surprise to avail, himself o f the opportunity of firing until the bird has attained too great
a distance to be sh o t; and when concealed among reeds, rushes, o r herbage, it .is with the greatest
difficulty that it is made to sta rt ; and to effect this purpose frequently requires much caution and
perseverance. The best time to get a sight o f the bird is towards the evening, owing to its habit o f coming
forth at that tim e ; but, to reach unperceived a hiding-place for the purpose o f lying in wait, the greatest
caution is required when approaching places supposed to be frequented by it.
“ T he flight o f the Little Bittern is different from that of others of its family, being performed with
stronger and quicker motions of the wings. I t does not fly high in the air during the day, but only high
enough, in general, to clear the vegetation among which it resides. In the act o f taking flight, it flutters
quickly with its wings; but when alighting, it throws itself, as it were, to the earth* only breaking its fall
when close to the ground by expanding the wings.”
The food of the Little Bittern naturally consists of the objects which are so abundant in the swampy places
it frequents—namely, small fishes, young frogs, newts, aquatic insects, worms, and mollusea of various kinds.
I t breeds among the rushes, the nest being placed 011 hummocks in the marshes, a little above the usual rise
o f the water, and in some instances on the overhanging boughs of a t r e e ; it is said that a few have also heen
found in bushes about three feet from the ground ; it is a large and shapeless structure, composed of
broken reeds, grass, and other similar materials. The eggs are five or six in number, white, tinged with
very pale blue, an inch and five twelfths in length by an inch and a twelfth in breadth. Their incubation
occupies sixteen or seventeen days.
The male is stated by Vieillot to emit, when alarmed, a loud barking cry, much resembling the barking of
a dog when heard at a distance; and in a communication sent to the ‘ Zoologist ’ in 1849 by the Rev. H. T.
Frere it is thus described :— “ On two or three successive nights, when sailing on the broad, we heard a
noise in the marsh at the side resembling the bark o f a dog, o r more nearly the grunt a paviour gives when
dropping his rammer. Though all the party were tolerably well acquainted with the notes o f the marsh-
birds, this was a novelty to us. A marshman, however, recognized it as the note o f the Little Bittern, one
o f which he had shot some thirty years before.”
“With reference to the somewhat puzzling plumage o f this species,” says Mr. Stevenson, “ Messrs. Gurney
and Fisher remark, ‘ from an inspection o f the specimens obtained from time to time in the Norfolk
district, we incline to the opinion that, if the females o f this species ultimately arrive at a plumage similar
to that o f the adult males, as is asserted by modern naturalists, it is only a t a much more advanced period
than that a t which the same plumage is assumed by the l a tte r ; and it appears quite certain that the female
in the supposed immature plumage pairs with the adult male.’ ” ' ' ¡-.vii«
The figures in the accompanying Plate, which are o f the natural size, will show the ordinary difference
in the colouring of the sexes. Owing to the length and looseness o f the plumage, one would have supposed
that the male a t least would weigh nearly double the weight which Mr. Rodd has stated (three
ounces).