THE BITTERN
(Botaurus stellaris)
BEFORE drainage and cultivation had driven away so many of the marsh-haunting birds, the boom of the bittern was a familiar sound to the dwellers in the fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, and this handsome bird regularly nested not only in those districts, but in the Norfolk Broads, as well as in many other counties possessing situations suitable to its habits. Indeed nests were taken now and then up to the middle of last century, and even later; but at the present day the bittern is nothing more than a casual visitor to the British Islands, in fact, so rare have its visits become, that they are generally considered worthy of special record.
A near relative of the heron, the bittern does not expose itself in the open after the fashion of that species, but skulks amid the shelter of reeds and flags, where its presence is made known only by the ordinary raven-like croak, or the loud booming of the male in the breeding-season. From this habit the bittern derives its German name ofrohrdommel; and with such surroundings its mottled plumage of light and dark brown mingled with black is designed to harmonise, as is also in all probability the greenish hue of its long, spear-like beak, so admirably adapted to seize and hold the unwary fish or frog that may come within striking distance.
As this resemblance between the plumage of the bittern and its inanimate surroundings is sufficiently apparent from the accompanying Plate, it will be unnecessary to attempt any description of its colouring. It is, however, important to mention that the bird appears to be in the habit of increasing the protective power of its mottled livery, by assuming, probably under the influence of alarm, a statuesque position amid the reeds, with the body held as erect as possible, the neck stretched to its fullest extent, and the head and beak pointing skywards. In this posture it is stated, by those who have had the good fortune to see it, to be almost invisible amid the upright brown stems of reeds and bulrushes.
The range of the bittern is very extensive, including the whole of temperate Europe, northern Africa, and the greater portion of Asia lying between the Himalaya and the Arctic Circle, as well as north-western India and Burma. In South Africa its place is taken by another species, a third kind inhabits Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand, while a fourth is a native of North and Central America, and a fifth is indigenous to tropical South America. The distribution of the group is thus almost cosmopolitan, if we except most of the tropical zone of the Old World; and all the five species are closely related.
bittern
In Europe at the present day bitterns are still common in Spain, Holland,many parts of France and Germany, and the swamps of the Danube and Volga. It should be added that in Africa, India, and Burma the species occurs only in winter, being to some extent migratory in its habits.
These shy birds associate in pairs, but in migration time collect in parties previous to setting out on their travels. The nest, which is built of reeds and flags, and lined with grass, is well concealed among the brake in which the pair have taken up their residence, and may be a floating structure. The eggs, which are from three to five in number and greenish blue in colour, are incubated solely by the hen, who is supplied with food by her mate. The chicks remain in the nest until fully fledged, and display extraordinary cleverness in making their way among the reeds.
Little comes amiss to the bittern in the way of food, so long as it is of an animal nature; and its appetite is so great, that it is on the hunt for prey from sunrise till sunset. Water-rats, field-mice, birds of all kinds, fish, especially those inhabiting muddy water, snakes, lizards, leeches, worms, and insects and their larvæ are alike devoured by these voracious birds.
The usual cry of the bittern is, as already mentioned, a hoarse, raven-like croak; and it is only during the breeding-season that the male utters the resounding boom, which has been compared to the bellowing of a bull, and on a still night may be heard at a distance of a mile or more. How this wonderful sound is produced is not yet definitely known.
A wounded bittern is most dangerous to approach, as it will strike with unerring aim at the eye of the gunner who approaches to seize it; and the formidable beak is likewise employed, and generally with success, to repel the attack of any fox bold enough to approach its owner.
It should be added that during the hot summer of 1911 a pair of bitterns bred in the old Norfolk haunts of the species.