. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms; . resemble the hubbub caused by a partyof drunken Hungarian peas-ants ; and it is only on anearer approach the separate inotes of the two species, thecommon and the night-heron,can be distinguished—namely,craik and quack, to which the notes of the young, zek- ^i -■ zek-zek. ... in different , keys, serve as an accompani-ment. The tops of the highest • - I trees are usually occui)ied bvthe nests of the commonheron. A little lower downwe find the egret; and on thelowest branches the heron. The Bitterxs These are birds of
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms; . resemble the hubbub caused by a partyof drunken Hungarian peas-ants ; and it is only on anearer approach the separate inotes of the two species, thecommon and the night-heron,can be distinguished—namely,craik and quack, to which the notes of the young, zek- ^i -■ zek-zek. ... in different , keys, serve as an accompani-ment. The tops of the highest • - I trees are usually occui)ied bvthe nests of the commonheron. A little lower downwe find the egret; and on thelowest branches the heron. The Bitterxs These are birds of a re-markable type of coloration,adapted to aid their skulkinghabits. Thecolorationpartakesso completely of the nature ofthe undergrowth among whichthey- dwell, that, aided bycertain peculiar habits de-scribed below, they succeed inharmonising so perfectly withtheir surroundings as to renderthemselves invisible to theirenemies. The best-known speciesin Britain is the COMMON BIT-TERN, though this epithet nolonger applicable, for at thepresent time it is but an occa-. fhilt ty StMaitli Fhott. O INDIAN CATTLE-EGRET T/iii :i a s^ed€s of huff-bachd heron^ and earns its name from Us habit of kovering roundcattle for the sake of picking ojf the ticks by luhlch they are Injested sional visitant there. Onceit was plentiful enough, as the frequent references both in prose and poetry bear references have been inspired mainly by its very peculiar note, made apparently onlyduring the breeding-season. This sound is variously described as booming, bellowing, and bumping, and many are the theories which have been invented to account for its , in The Seasons, sa\s that it is made whilst the beak is thrust into the mud: — The bittern knows his time, with bill ingulfdTo shake the sounding marsh. Chaucer, that it is caused whilst it is immersed under water; and Dryden represents it as 58 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD made by thrusting the bill into a reed. M
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
