THE GREAT BLUE HERON. 



627 



tion, the most soul-empty- 

 ing succession of expletives 

 in the North American bird 

 language. 



But all this insight into 

 the domestic economy of 

 the Heron must be ob- 

 tained incog. Once you are 

 recognized in the under- 

 growth below as a dreadetl 

 human, a great hush falls 

 upon the colony. Tlie 

 anxious parents shrink till 

 every feather seems glued 

 to their persons full length, 

 and if possible the\- slink 

 away. The clamoring 

 voungsters, standing full 

 height in their nests, at a 

 signal from an adult, turn 

 to stone. After this they 

 sink down bv a movement 

 as insensible as that of the 

 hands of a clock. 



No one claims that this 

 Heron is "game," but the 

 fact remains that thought- 

 less people with guns, not 

 sportsmen, of course, seem 

 to find his towering bulk 

 irresistible, and have succeeded for tlie most part in (lri\ing his not un- 

 friendly presence beyond the limits of rifle range. Why cannot someone 

 invent an automatic soaring target, as big as a barn door, stuffed with tin 

 cans, chicken feathers and a bottle of red ink. which when hit with a liullct 

 would fall to earth with a crash like the walls of Jericho, and so satisfy at 

 trifling cost this peculiar lust of lead-throwing? The stateliness of the 

 Heron is too vital a part of our western landscape to be so wantonly 

 sacrificed. 



Tiiken iu California. 



Plioto by Fiiilcy and BohUnall. 

 ■FROZEN" HERON. 



