~v 
i 
bittern® 
with nhite 
bitterns 
fighting 
Occasionally they would stop and stand erect for a 
minute .or so, but when walking they inv- riablj maintained 
a crouching attitude, ’with the back strongly arched, the 
belly alrao t touching the ground, the neck so shortened 
that the lowered head and bill seemed to project only a 
few inches beyond the breast. Thus, in general shape and 
carriage, as well as i - gait, they seemed to resemble 
Pheasants or Grouse much more than Herons, 
Put the strangest thing of all was that both bird® 
showed extensive patches of what se emed tig be. purp, wfelt e. 
on their backs, between the shoulder®. This made them highly- 
conspicu us and quickly led e to conclude that the 1 irds 
must be something quite new to me and probably *— because 
of their attitudes and swift, gliding movements — Pheasant® 
of some a ecie® with which I was unfamiliar. 
Thus far I had been forced to view them with unas¬ 
sisted eyesight but .he I reached the cabin and they the 
fug© of our boat canal directly opposite, I secured my 
opera glass and by its aid quickly convinced myself that, 
despite their unusual motions and the conspicuous white 
on their bae&% they c uld be nothing other than bittern®, 
I was now joined by Hiss E. R, nimraon®, Miss Alice 
Eastwo d (the C lifornla botanist) and my assistant, 
Hr, R, A, Gilbert, all of .horn became at once deeply in-* 
tereeted in the birds, which we® now standing erect by the 
canal about twenty yard® apart. Suddenly both rose and 
flew straight at one another, meeting in the air at a height 
7 
