This depiction of the Small Bittern is taken from The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (1731-1747) by famed naturalist Mark Catesby. He was one of several 18th-century explorers who ventured to remote areas of the world to document regional flora and fauna. A copy of the 1771 edition of the two-volume work is in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation collection.

Catesby wrote, "I don¹t remember to have seen any of them in Winter: Wherefore I believe, they retire from Virginia and Carolina more South."