The American Bittern 



been brought to light. 1 It seems that the male Bittern has as part of 

 his nuptial equipment a patch of long downy white feathers on each side 

 of the breast. These are ordinarily quite concealed by the surrounding 

 plumage, and especially by the covering wings; but under special excite- 

 ment, perhaps only that occasioned by a rival's presence, they are elevated 

 and shifted until they appear in the form of conspicuous ruffs, each as 

 large as a man's hand, over the bird's shoulders. On such occasions 

 the birds crouch low upon the ground looking more like big partridges 

 than herons, and parade about over the short grass by the hour, in an 

 effort to intimidate, or at least to outshine, their foes. 



Although Botaurus has been known to mankind ever since Pithecan- 

 thropus learned to pick his teeth with the splint-bone of an Eohippus, 

 nobody happened to mention this interesting nuptial performance of the 

 Bittern, nor even to profess knowledge of the existence of such a remark- 

 able outfit for "making medicine," until the year of grace 1911. And this 

 knowledge came to light, in a suburb of Boston, merely because an ob- 

 server got busy with an every day (or every spring) opportunity. Let 

 not the youthful Alexander (Wilson or Johnson or Davidson) sigh for 

 more (ornithological) worlds to conquer, whether in Tibet, or Timbuctoo, 

 until he has mastered the secrets of Grass Valley or the San Diego marshes. 



The Bittern makes its nest either upon the dry ground adjacent 

 to some swamp, or in the reeds themselves. In the former case, a care- 

 less lining of dried grasses and weed-stalks, or a few bits of dried cowdung, 

 is provided. In the latter, the broken-down stems of surrounding sedges 

 or the matted leaves of last year's cat-tails must suffice to keep the eggs 

 out of the water. 



Baby Bitterns wear their hair pompadour, and they possess an abun- 

 dance of this light yellowish brown covering, substantially uniform 

 throughout. Their bills are light yellow, and their legs are light greenish 

 yellow; so that a chick of this description may be easily overlooked among 

 the reeds. Half-grown birds do rely upon their protective coloration, and 

 adopt the freezing tactics of their fathers with eminent success; but 

 baby birds are under the older ancestral spell (the true Ciconiiform tra- 

 dition) which bids them endeavor to intimidate their foes. Chicks three 

 or four days old, therefore, will bridle and hiss and strike and make great 

 pretense of swallowing you, as they would a coveted morsel. So earnest are 

 these enfants terribles that their fauces quiver convulsively, and you 

 thank your lucky stars that Bittern babies are smaller than Pterodactyls 

 or Pteronodonts, or whatever antedeluvian monster it was that started 

 this swallowing habit. It is a pathetic bluff, now, but once upon a time 

 it must have been deadly earnest. 



•See especially "Nuptial Plumes of Bitterns" by William Brewster: Auk, Vol. XXVIII., Jan., 1911, pp. 90-100. 



1919 



