. The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state . n])im his weight•liat the Bit->rns reputa-iidU rests, butupon his won-derful moonlightserenade whichthis ardent lov-er accords hismistress is oneof tlie most out-1 an dish per-formances in nature. Take an air-tight hogshead and inmierse it suddenly in water withthe bung-hole down; then allow the air to escape in great gurgles, say acaskful at a time, and you will get but a faint idea of the terrifying, earth-shaking power of the Thunder-pump at close range. Umph-ta-g
. The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state . n])im his weight•liat the Bit->rns reputa-iidU rests, butupon his won-derful moonlightserenade whichthis ardent lov-er accords hismistress is oneof tlie most out-1 an dish per-formances in nature. Take an air-tight hogshead and inmierse it suddenly in water withthe bung-hole down; then allow the air to escape in great gurgles, say acaskful at a time, and you will get but a faint idea of the terrifying, earth-shaking power of the Thunder-pump at close range. Umph-ta-googh,umph-ta-googh. groans this absurd wooer, and the swamp quakes with ap-prehension. The case is serious, for the bird accompanies the cry with amotion which suggests the miseries of the Scriptural whale, and each suc-cessive Jonah has a long way to go before reaching fresh air. Maria likesthe noise, of course, and,—well, love is like seasickness at certain birds also indulge in another note not less strange, but somewhatless startling,—that of a stake smitten by a hammer. Whack -a- zvhack,. C.\PTIVE BITTERN. THE LEAST BITTERN. 465 vjhack-a-zihack, goes the bird, and the dullest imagination can picture thestake sinking deeper into the mud with every stroke. The nest is an unpretentious affair, a grass-lined depression on thesurface of some tiny island, high and dry, or a bed of reeds and coarsegrasses, or even sticks, placed anywhere about the swamp, under cover ofthe protecting vegetation. Sometimes the nests are built in shallow water. No. BITTERN. ^A. O. U. No. 191. Ardetta exilis (Gmel.). Description.—Adult male: Top of head, back, scapulars, and tail shiningblack with faint greenish reflections; sides of head and neck pale rufous, deepeningon back of neck to rich chestnut; wing-coverts, bordering the black, brownish buff;the greater coverts and tertials broadly tipped with chestnut-rufous, and the innerprimaries and secondaries narrowly; unde
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1903
