Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/67

 46 Bird - Lore

but both performances are ordinarily reserved for the morning and evening twilight or for nights when there is a nearly full moon.

Unlike the Snipe, which pass further north to breed, the Bittern is a summer resident of our marshes. He sometimes arrives in March, but his presence is likely to be overlooked until about the middle of April, when he begins to make it evident to the dullest ears by his stentorian voice—louder and, perhaps, also more remarkable than that of any other wild creature found in eastern MassacliuSetts. Standing in an open part of the meadow, usually half concealed by the surrounding grasses, he ﬁrst makes a succe5< sion of low clicking or gulping sounds accompanied by quick opening and shutting of the bill and then, with abrupt contortions of the head and neck unpleasantly suggestive of those of a person afﬂicted by nausea, belches forth in deep, guttural tones, and with tremendous emphasis, a piurip-er-liml’ repeated from two or three to six_ or seven times in quick succession and suggesting the sound of an old»fashioned wooden pump. All three syllables may be usually heard up to a distance of about 400 yards, beyond which the middle one is lost and the remaining two sound like the words pump-up or plum-pudd’n while at distances greater than half a mile the terminal syllable alone is audible, and closely resembles the sound pro- duced by an axe stroke on the head of a wooden stake, giving the bird its familiar appellation of ” Stake Driver.H

At the height of the breeding season the Bittern indulges in this ex- traordinary performance at all hours of the day, especially when the weather is cloudy, and he may be also heard occasionally in the middle of the darkest nights, but his favorite times for exercising his ponderous voice are just before sunrise and immediately after sunset. Besides the snapping or gulping and the pumping notes the Bittern also utters, usually while ﬂy- ing, a nasal bainl‘ and a creaking oé—ak-nk-nl‘.

Belonging to the same family as the Bittern but differing widely from it—as well as from each other—in voice and habits, are the Night Heron and the Green Heron. The former species was once very common in the Fresh Pond marshes but is fast deserting them. A few birds remain with us through the winter but the majority arrive early in April and depart be- fore November. As it name implies the Night Heron is inactive by day but in the evening twilight, as well as throughout the darkest nights, we hear over the marshes the deep, hoarse quawl’ which it gives every half minute or so while ﬂying. Besides this call it makes at times a variety of loud, raucous sounds, some of which have been compared to the cries of a person suffering strangulation. The Green Heron rarely appears in our latitude before the 20th of April. It is still a common summer resident of the Fresh Pond marshes and being diurnal in its habits and by no means shy it is oftener seen there than either of the other Herons just mentioned. In addition to the abrupt and rather startling mm which is its ordinary call,