THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 625 



not exactly graceful on the one hand, nor majestic on the other, it presents 

 that peculiar combination of the two which we are pleased to call picturesque. 

 While standing knee-deep in the water of some pond or stream awaiting 

 its customary prey of minnows or frogs, it may remain for an hour as 

 motionless as a bronze statute: then with a movement like lightning the 

 head is drawn back and suddenly shot downward, and a wriggling fish is 

 transfixed on the spear-like beak. A deft toss of the head puts the fish 

 up and transfers it to the inside, and the bird moves with cpiiet, measured 

 step to another station, or else rises heavily, with slow flaps, into the air. 

 In full flight the Heron stretches its legs to the fullest extent behind ; 

 and the neck, especially when the bird is sailing, is carried like the letter 

 S or Z, so that the lower i)art is bmught parallel to the long bill, and the 

 bird Idoks like a strato-cnmulus cloud fldating in space. 



Besides frequenting inland lakes and waterways, the Herons patrol 

 the tide-flats thruout the lengtli of dur thousand-mile shore-line. Their 

 best hours are on the rising tide when the }-oung fli)unders and stnne- 

 rollers come scuttling in: and their patience is so untiring that they will 

 fish, if need be, far into the night. At high tide they take a turn in-shore, 

 or else foregather on some deserted wharf. The lines nf piling which sup- 

 port fish-traps are also favorite stations, and they stand alrmg these un- 

 social pedestals like pillar saints of old. On a windy day it is interesting 

 to see tliese long-legged creatures tr^■ing■ to make connection with their 

 narrow perches as the\' idighl. Facing the wind, some will fl\' i>ast until 

 their dangling legs touch the top of the ]iile. an<] then allow the wind to 

 right them: while others thrust the feet well forward and critically observe 

 the moiuent of contact, after wdiich they struggle into position with great 

 flappings. In spite of this apparent awkwardness, they can maintain them- 

 selves on no larger a footing than a taut rope: and I have seen them, on 

 Lake Erie, stand on the edge of a fish-net, and, reaching down to the water 

 some two feet below, select an underweight whitefish. 



During the breeding season these large birds are gregarious. W^e have 

 been unable to get any information of East-side heronries, and it is possible 

 that the birds which frequent the Palouse and Big Bend country nest up- 

 on the ground: but on Puget v^ound they nest high in forest trees where 

 their haunts are not easily discovered. One such heronry existed formerly 

 near Tacoma, being situated in a den.se growth of cedar trees about a mile 

 from the Sound. There were about sixty pairs of birds in this colony, 

 and as one looked up from the dense tangle of undergrowth, the sight 

 of so many great nests high u]) in the tall trees was a very impressive one. 

 From one spot Mr. Bowles counted thirty-nine nests, as many as five nests 

 being visible in a single tree, and these placed at heights varying from seventy- 

 five to one hundred and fiftv feet from the ground. 



