Nature Done Wright

Some great responses to this Monday Mystery, with lots of cool info.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron was a pretty good theory by Fran Duggan, though pooh-poohed by another astute commenter, Ginny Chukka. 

Ginny provided lots of info about the grave itself, and postulated that the bird is an extinct gallinule pheasant hybrid. (Not to pooh-pooh the pooh-pooher, but that's kind of fudging, isn't it?)

Pat Price pointed out that the remains of the legendary Leatherman were buried in that same cemetery.

At first I thought Pat Price meant David Leatherman, but he is only retired. So it must be this Leatherman.

I also like Carol Flanagan's theory — Phoenix.  I found a photo of a Phoenix festooning poet May Sarton's gravestone. The link is here. Also a famous Phoenix on a tombstone, here.

And the raging debate continues…