The uncouth 'booming' of the bittern is a mysterious sound of which most authors only speak with reservation and at second hand. Mudie's account of the "savage laughter that sounds as if the voices of a bull and a horse were combined" is often quoted, but he describes it as being produced by the flying bird. This "is evidently the offspring of his fine imagination," as Macgillvray correctly remarks, adding: "What a pleasant thing it is to be able to write copiously and with ease on a subject about which one knows nothing!" But we have better evidence that the English names of the European Botaurus stellaris, such as 'mire-drum,' 'bitter-bump,' 'bog-bumper,' only faintly express the roaring ability of this nocturnal performer. J. F. Naumann -- a keener and trustworthier observer than whom was never born -- asserts that he has heard the bellowing and rumbling of the male bittern innumerable times, often throughout the whole night. He describes the sound as "u prumb," the latter syllable much louder than the former, repeated several times. He sometimes heard, when he succeeded in getting close enough, a low sound precede the bellow, as if the surface of the water was beaten with a reed. The roar sounds, close by, nearly as strong as the bellow of an ox and may be heard, during a still night, at a distance of from three to four miles, according to circumstances. Naumann himself was never so fortunate as to see the bird during the performance. Count Wodzicki, however,-also known as an excellent observer, -- was more successful, and describes it in the following manner: "The artist was standing on both legs, with the body horizontal, and the bill in the water, and then a rumbling began, the water spouting about all the time. After a few sounds I heard the 'u' described by Naumann; the bird lifted the head, threw it backwards, put it again rapidly into the water, producing a roar that startled me."
