SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



The great blue heron is indeed a splendid 

 bird, for it stands more than four feet high, 

 and it is full six feet from tip to tip of its 

 extended wings. Although it formerly bred 

 in these regions, it does not do so now as far 

 as I can discover, yet it may be seen there 

 throughout the summer. It is most common, 

 however, in April and May and after the mid- 

 dle of July. Exceedingly picturesque it is as 

 it stands motionless in the green marsh, or 

 stalks sedately along the edge of a creek, or 

 flaps majestically over the water. 



Herons were one of the favorite quarries 

 in the days of falconry, and Hamlet showed 

 his familiarity with this fact, as well as his 

 sanity, in stating that he knew " a hawk from 

 a hernshaw." It has never been my fortune 

 to see a hawk fly at a heron, but I once saw 

 a common tern attack a great blue heron in 

 a way that brought to mind some of the old 

 hawking pictures. The screaming tern darted 

 at the noble bird from above and behind, as 

 it was winging its course high above the 

 marsh. The heron screamed hoarsely, partly 

 dropped its legs from their extended position 

 behind, and, erecting the feathers on its head 

 in anger, stretched and turned around its 



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