RIFE WITH BIRDS. 155 
instant. I could not give the pathology of the 
case, as no wounds could be found on his body. 
One of the most interesting finds of the day was 
the nest of a green heron, often called “ fly-up-the- 
creek.” The nest, only a loosely constructed plat- 
form of sticks, was placed on the branches of a 
leaning clump of small trees, and was about twenty 
feet from the ground. ‘The startled bird flew back 
and forth in the row of trees, and even went back 
to the nest while I watched her at a distance, but 
was too shy to remain there when I went near. In 
spite of the offensive nicknames foisted upon this 
heron, it is a handsome bird. As this one flew back 
and forth she made quite an elegant picture, with 
her long, glossy-brown neck and tail, white throat- 
line, ash-blue back, dappled under parts, and the 
long, slender feathers draping her hind-neck. But 
why was she called the green heron? Look as 
sharply as I would, I could descry no green in her 
plumage. A few days later, however, I examined 
a mounted specimen, and then the puzzle was 
solved ; for an iridescent green patch on the wing 
was so marked a feature of its coloration as to ac- 
count for the bird’s common name. 
Memory will always linger fondly about a certain 
afternoon and evening spent on the steep hills 
mounting up toward the sky a quarter of a mile or 
more back from the river. To a pedestrian like 
myself, used to rambling over a comparatively level 
scope of country, these high hills afforded a wonder- 
ful prospect, and almost made my head dizzy, as I 
