Concord, Mass.
1910.
April 18
(No 12)
[April 18, 1910]

Bitterns

  It is conceivable, of course, that the 
ruffs displayed by the living birds were much
less large and white than they appeared.
I should certainly suspect that this may
have been the case were it not that
the observations I have just noted were
made with such care by five different
persons and under widely varying conditions
of light and shade. Hence I have felt
justified in recording our mutual impressions
of what we saw despite the fact that
my skins of Bitterns do not seem to
confirm it altogether. One thing, however,
is quite sure viz. that the plumes - be they
long or short, white or yellow, are used
for display in the interesting way I have described.