VOl "5n Vin ] Brewster, Nuptial Plumes of Bitterns. 91 



looks, at present, almost as smooth and verdant as a well kept 

 lawn. It was mown over late last summer and having been free 

 from flood water for upwards of a month past, is now covered 

 everywhere with young grass three or four inches in height. Al- 

 though this affords no concealment for birds larger than a Snipe 

 the marsh has been frequented much of late by Bitterns. At 

 morning and evening I have heard them pumping or have seen 

 them flying to and fro, or standing erect with heads and necks 

 stretched up on the watch for danger, but previous to to-day I 

 have paid little attention to them. Two which I saw this morning, 

 however, presented such a strange appearance and acted in so 

 remarkable a manner that I watched them for half-an-hour or 

 more with absorbing interest. When I first noticed them they 

 were on the further margin of a little lagoon where Red-winged 

 Blackbirds breed, moving past it eastward almost if not quite 

 as fast as a man habitually walks, one following directly behind 

 the other at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards. Thus they 

 advanced, not only rapidly but also very evenly, with a smooth, 

 continuous, gliding motion which reminded me of that of certain 

 Gallinaceous birds and was distinctly un-heron-like. Occasionally 

 they would stop and stand erect for a moment but when walking 

 they invariably maintained a crouching attitude, with the back 

 strongly arched, the belly almost touching the ground, the neck so 

 shortened that the lowered head and bill seemed to project only a 

 few inches beyond the breast. In general shape and carriage, as 

 well as in gait, they resembled Pheasants or Grouse much more 

 than Herons. But the strangest thing of all was that both birds 

 showed extensive patches of what seemed to be pure tvhite on their 

 backs, between the shoulders. This made them highly conspicu- 

 ous and led me to conclude at first that they must be something 

 quite new to me and probably — because of their attitudes and 

 swift, gliding movements — Pheasants of some species with which 

 I was unfamiliar. Thus far I had been forced to view them with 

 unassisted eyesight, but when I had reached the cabin and they 

 the edge of our boat canal directly opposite it I got my opera 

 glass and by its aid quickly convinced myself that despite their 

 unusual behavior and the white on their backs they could be 

 nothing else than Bitterns. 



