66 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 



Mr. William Brewster^ was first to call attention to the display of white 

 plumes by this bird in courtship. These are soft, flufify creamy-white feathers 

 attached to the skin on each side of the breast near the shoulder joint. They are 

 ordinarily concealed beneath the wing but are elevated and spread to the size of 

 the hand in courtship display. I had a very good opportunity on May 30, 1913, 

 to watch this display from the side of Sagamore Hill, Ipswich. A Bittern, prob- 

 ably a female, had alighted near another, a male, who had been " pumping " in an 

 open field near the pond. The female at once disappeared in the cat-tail rushes 

 and the male displayed the white nuptial plumes at the shoulder. These were 

 visible at all times as he walked about just outside of the cat-tails with his head 

 on a level with his shoulders. Between the " pumpings," which I have described 

 in the original Memoir, he assumed at times the " frozen" pose with bill pointing 

 upward. Even at this time the white nuptial plumes were in plain sight. 



The Bittern, except in flight, is rarely seen off the ground, but on July 23, 

 1916, in a rain storm, I watched one standing on a low hay-cock on the hillside 

 near my house. His color matched well the water-soaked hay. 



It is possible for a careless observer to mistake an immature Night Heron 

 for a Bittern, so it is well to bear in mind the distinguishing points. The Bittern 

 is buffy yellow with darker stripes, while a young Night Heron looks gray. In 

 flight the dark edging of the wings of the Bittern at once distinguishes this bird 

 from the Night Heron which lacks the black border. The neck, bill, and legs of 

 the Bittern look longer in comparison with those of the Night Heron, which 

 appear stumpy. 



80 [191] Ixobrychus exilis (Gmel.). 



Least Bittern. 



Rare summer resident. May 11 to September 21. 



Eggs: June. 



Since the original Memoir was published, I have made the acquaintance of 

 this bird, but to much less extent than I could wish. On two occasions I heard its 

 curious frog-like love song and searched in vain for the performer. I have 

 written down the song as coo-coo, whoo-whoo and as cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk. Both birds 

 were heard in May, one in the Topsfield Marshes, the other near Sagamore Pond 

 at Ipswich. Mr. Damsell's^ notebooks record it twice in the fall: September 21, 

 1887, and September i, 1888. 



Mr. J. A. Farley found a nest and eggs of this species at Lynnfield. 



1 Brewster, W. Auk, vol. 28, p. 90-100, 1911. 



2 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 23, 1913. 



