American Bittern

The American Bittern is a smaller bird, but is probably a variety of the

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859 Various

_Magazine of Natural History_, attends the great American Bittern; it is that it has the power of emitting a light from its breast equal to the light of a common torch, which illuminates the water so as to enable it to discover its prey.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 397, November 7, 1829 Various

But in spite of this, he is a difficult bird to find; for if anything is 'remote, unfriendly, solitary, slow,' it is the American Bittern, who often stands motionless among the reeds for hours. "

Citizen Bird Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners Elliott Coues 1870