ON THE SHORE 363 



family. These Night Herons flock back from warm 

 countries in April, and by early May have bnilt their 

 rough nests of sticks in trees near the water, or over 

 a marshy place. There is a colony of twenty or thirty 

 nests on jNIarsh Island, Olaf tells me ; in my boyhood 

 days there used to be hundreds of them. 



" In nesting-time a heronry, as sucli a colony is 

 called, is a very noisy, dirty place ; for they do not 

 keep their homes neat and nice, like the tidy land 

 birds. Mr. and Mrs. Night Heron call hoarsely enough 

 to each other, but imagine three or four baby Herons 

 crying from every nest — truly the parents can have 

 but little rest, for day and night they must go frogging 

 or fishing, to fill the stomachs of their red-eyed awkward 

 children. 



" When tlie nesting season is over, however, this 

 Heron again becomes the night watchman of the 

 marshes. The tinkling of the bell on the home-going 

 cow is his breakfast bell, and sunset the signal for him 

 to leave his roost. Then beware ! little fishes and 

 lizards — those red eyes are glowing for you! That 

 long spear-shaped beak is ready to stab you to death ! 

 Froggy 'who would a-wooing go,' return quickly to 

 your mother, without making any impertinent remarks 

 about ' gammon and spinach ' on the way, or something 

 much more savage than the 'lily-white duck' w^ill 

 surely gobble you up I Stay in doors jDatiently, until 

 sunrise sends the rough-clawed prowler back to his 

 heronry again." 



" iNIay we go to see the Herons some day ? It would 

 be so funny to go to a bird hotel and find everybody 

 asleep, like the beauty in the wood," said Dodo. 



