216 POPULAR SCRIPTURE ZOOLOGY.

is just as likely that it has waded into the pond to havea
better opportunity of transfixing a water-rat lurking at the
mouth of its hole, or of gobbling down some unfortunate
frog which had taken refuge on the rush-grown margin of
the pool.”

BoravRvs sTELLARIS.—The Bittern.

This bird belongs to a subgenus of the heron family, liv-
ing in woody swamps and marshes, and feeding on aquatic
animals, frogs, lizards, and insects. The bittern is nearly
as large as the common heron, but its body is more plump,
and its legs stronger; the bill is strong at the base, straight,
and tapering to an acute point; the head is covered with
long black feathers; the neck-feathers are also long and
loose, and the bird can raise or depress them at pleasure;
the general colour of the plumage is a dull, pale yellow,
the back and wings marked with black uneven lines and
streaks; the tail is very short. The female is rather smaller
than the male, her plumage not so bright, and the feathers
‘on the neck shorter. She makes a rude nest, composed of
withered stalks and leaves, laying from four to six eggs, of a
greenish-white.

The bittern is a solitary bird, never seen on the wing in
the day-time, but remaining concealed in the reeds and