. Bird-lore . reely, andafter that I kept my face out of range. I wanted a photograph of the birdbefore letting it go, so focused my cameraon a rock where I placed the Bittern andjumped back, planning to press the bulbbefore she flew away, but I was much sur- 64) Notes from Field and Study 26s prised to see her freeze, when picturemaking became easj\ While I remained still, with a movementso gradual as to be almost imperceptible,the Bittern would stretch out her neckand turn and start to walk away, but at acall or a clap of the hands she wouldfreeze again, and then repeat the stealthyeflort to
. Bird-lore . reely, andafter that I kept my face out of range. I wanted a photograph of the birdbefore letting it go, so focused my cameraon a rock where I placed the Bittern andjumped back, planning to press the bulbbefore she flew away, but I was much sur- 64) Notes from Field and Study 26s prised to see her freeze, when picturemaking became easj\ While I remained still, with a movementso gradual as to be almost imperceptible,the Bittern would stretch out her neckand turn and start to walk away, but at acall or a clap of the hands she wouldfreeze again, and then repeat the stealthyeflort to slink away. At times the wings would be droppedto the ground and the crest feathers luck on her nest journey southward.—Wilbur F. Smith, South Norwalk, Conn. Killdeer in Connecticut During the fall of 1916 while repairswere being made around the dam of oneof the local reservoirs, the water waslowered about eighteen inches. This laidbare a great area of lake bottom at theupper end where the water is normally. L*.^ X.*!.. ^ AMERICAN BITTERN raised, and when facing me the mass ofbreast feathers would be fluffed out, giv-ing her a formidable appearance which Iimagine caused her captor to run for theblanket. After getting all the pictures I wished,I gave her a toss into the air and she flewoff and alighted on the shore at the edgeof some salt-water grasses, and so per-fectly did the yellows and browns of herfeathers blend with the yellowing grassesthat she seemed to vanish from sight, andI left her hoping she would have better shallow and where a rich growth of vege-table and minute animal life had fact, the conditions very nearly dupli-cated those existing around westernprairie sloughs in the summer as thewater slowly recedes by evaporationleaving exposed such a wealth of food forthe waders. It was late in the afternoon, October 29,while out walking that we first noticedthese unusually favorable conditions andsaw at that time, besides a SolitarySandpiper and one
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirdsperiodicals
