SOMERSET HILLS 51 



voices of Ducks, Blackbirds, King- 

 fishers and other creatures that were 

 preparing for sleep. Dozens of un- 

 familiar sounds came to my ears. They 

 might have been made by rare birds, 

 which I had never seen. Who knows? 

 Finally darkness put an end to this 

 sight, one which I shall always re- 

 member. 



Herons 



The Great Blue Heron (Plate 14, 

 p. Ill) is the largest of our three 

 Herons. His chief color is light blue, 

 and he stands almost four feet high. 

 His food, like that of the rest of his 

 family, is composed mostly of frogs and 

 fish. He wades through the water and 

 seizes them with his long pointed beak. 

 These Herons nest in trees, where, in 

 small colonies, they build large rough 

 platforms of sticks. Their call is a 

 peculiar quawk. 



