A rare gem found within the Thomas Sadler Roberts bird species files under the Bell Museum of Natural History records were original hand drawn illustrations of the bird, Bittern, by Walter Breckenridge, director of the Bell Museum from 1946 to 1969.
The Bittern is a part of the Ardeidae family, are typically smaller than the Heron, and tend to have a shorter neck.
These illustrations were drawn between 1921 to 1928 and include both young and adult interpretations of the American Bittern and the Least Bittern.
These illustrations also correlate to the photographic negatives Breckenridge took of this bird species while beginning his education and career at the University of Minnesota.
These images were digitized as a part of the Exploring Minnesota's Natural History digitization project in 2013 to 2014.