384 



THE OOLOGIST. 



A commotion overhead attracts our 

 attention and two Herons stand face to 

 face with wings spread backward and 

 open bills as if they were hissing at 

 each other, for they do hiss when en- 

 raged, but they s<ion quiet down. 



Beneath the trees the ground was al- 

 ternately covered with tracts devoid of 

 vegetation and patches of rank weeds 

 which grew to the height of three or 

 four feet, in places head high. As we 

 parted these weeds in front of us and 

 went from tract to tract we examined 

 with eager interest all that lay before 

 us, now turning over a nest that had 

 fallen now poking about the bones of a 

 fallen bird. 



Everywhere there were the remains 

 of fish, frogs and even mice and scat- 

 tered about in abundance were the blue 

 egg shells of the Herons and the chalky 

 shells of the Coi'morants. 



One thing particularly noticeable 

 was the number of holes of animals who 

 no doubt grubbed an excellent living 

 from tish that had been dropped. 



I say '"particularly noticeal}le" for 

 the reason that one was very apt to run 

 his foot in one while gazing skyward. 



On returning I persisted in carrying 

 a Heron's nest down to the boat and 

 tilling up one end of it, to the disgust of 

 the rest of the party, having tine ideas 

 of varnishing each stick and reposing it 

 gracefully in one corner of my room, 

 but the novelty of the thing having 

 worn ofl'. the remarks ot my compan- 

 ions at last persuaded mc to throw it 

 overboard. 



We set out towards home in one of 

 those golden twilights, when the watei's 

 are illuminated sometime after the sun 

 has gone down. 



But even this soon must fade and as 

 it faded the noise of the birds became 

 less and less boisterous till finally it 

 died away altogether and when we 

 reached the point the sounds of our 

 voices and the splashing of the oars 

 alone broke the stillness of a starlight 

 night. 



I have since come to spend my sum- 

 mers on a lake not very far from this 

 one and have seen much of both of the 

 birds in question. 



No marsh Avithin five miles of the is- 

 land is complete without its Heron or 

 (juota of Herons and I have often seen a 

 dozen around one small lake standing 

 statue like in the bogs. 



Sometimes they are found in these 

 places at night and the harsh cries of 

 one flying across th3 waters after dark 

 ma}' often be heard. 



As to captive Herons it is xcry often 

 d'fficult to get them to eat. especially if 

 they are old ones, yet 1 know of one 

 that after being let loose returned reg- 

 ularly at meal times for his allowance. 

 I once obtained one that had been 

 wounded and fastened him by a small 

 rope so that he could wade about on 

 the shore of the lake. He most obsti- 

 nately refused all food and prefered to 

 spend his time standing in one position 

 all day long, and we linally had to 

 shoot him. 



They occasionally put in their aji- 

 pearance in front of the cottages in the 

 early morning in search of of ti>h left 

 along the shore, and they seem to know 

 verj' well when the people are stirring 

 for they are not caught there aftrr the 

 earliest morning hours. 



At a l)oathouse a few miles from the 

 island, they had a large box, open at 

 the to]), standing in a few inches of 

 water where frogs and minnows intend- 

 ed for bait were kept. 



For several mornings the keepers 

 found great losses to ha\e occurred in 

 the rank'sjjf the frogs and tishes and fi- 

 nally one man put in his appearance at 

 daybreak to catch the intruder. He 

 found a most contented Heron inside 

 the box calmly helping himself, who, 

 when he saw that he was observed, 

 made off at a rapid rate. The next 

 morning vengence was decided upon 

 and the man laid concealed with a shot 

 gun, but the bird had made his farewell 



