33^ Bird -Lore 



and then a Spotted Sandpiper flies by, too, from the beach shore of the sand- 

 spit, up through the "transition-marsh," I suspect, to the artificial fresh- 

 water lakes beyond. Or perhaps it is the other way. In all the summers 

 that I have watched the inner harbor, I am not really sure on this point. It 

 is always a delight to watch the Herons come in to feed, to learn their different 

 actions in flight, to study their poses as they stand immovable, waiting the 

 opportune instant to strike for prey or stalk stealthily over the yielding, muddy 

 ooze. Very rarely they caU during the day, though occasionally I hear the 

 little Green Heron's ke-ouk, or the hoarser quawk of its larger companion. 



At night, the latter calls more frequently, and though I cannot look through 

 the darkness a stone's-throw to the harbor, I know who is there, when the tide 

 is out. 



To-day was one of many red-letter days at low tide. In addition to the 

 Crows and Herons, Kingfishers three and the restless Sandpiper, a Great Blue 

 Heron came in, with Gulls and Terns and a strange Duck. It was so exciting 

 that I could pay little attention to a parent Starling, whose nestlings, tucked 

 away in a crevice of the old building behind me, made unceasing demands 

 upon its distracted attention. The Terns hardly made the circuit of the harbor, 

 so brief was their stay, before returning to the larger waters of the outer harbor 

 and sound. It was fortunate I was on the lookout. The big Herring Gulls 

 had been in almost daily for some weeks, sometimes one in nearly adult plu- 

 mage, sometimes others in dark immature plumage, but this was the first day 

 of the season that the Laughing Gufls swept in from the outer waters. Their 

 airy evolutions in which they show to such fine advantage the black primaries 

 of their slender wings, caught my eye, and though nearly all of the little flock 

 were immature, two black heads were visible, and all showed a dark or blackish 

 bill. One could hardly wish for better fortune than to see these two species of 

 Gulls sitting side by side on the weedy flats seldom feeding, however, although 

 once a Herring Gull seized and bore off a wriggling eel, followed by a greedy 

 Night Heron. It may be the harbor at low tide offers a recreation-ground for 

 them, or an attractive place of rest, for they seem to like to swim slowly about 

 in shaUow water, now and then splashing the water over themselves and 

 preening, but best of all, to squat quietly on the flats of water-weed exposed 

 by the ebb-tide. 



The Great Blue Heron has been an unusual visitor for days this season, 

 causing much speculation as to whether it is a stray, or a breeding-bird, rare 

 as a summer resident in this locality. 



One could scarcely tire of watching this graceful Heron, slender of neck 

 and leg, now wading breast-deep in the incoming tide, now standing motionless 

 with fixed eye and ready bill, turning occasionally, and instantly, as if by magic, 

 disappearing from sight, so perfectly does it blend into the colorless air and 

 current. 



The Duck which happened in, this memorable day, kept paddling well 



