400 DUCK SHOOTING. 



the clumsy efforts made by his pursuers to capture 

 him. 



Often a little whisp of snipe of two or three individu- 

 als pass within gunshot of the blind, or a single bird, 

 like a bullet from the sky, may drop on some nearby 

 point of the marsh, and run briskly about over the mud 

 to the water's edge, probing with busy bill for food 

 which is hidden beneath. In like manner now and then 

 a killdeer plover or a pair of yellow-legs may fly in from 

 beyond the marsh, and hurry along over the mud as if 

 greatly pressed for time. 



Herons, of course, are abundant in the marsh, and 

 are of three sorts. The night heron — in New England 

 called quawk — and the bittern are seen less often here 

 than the great blue heron, which in these parts is known 

 by an apparently unmeaning name — "forty gallons of 

 soup." This bird is common here, and often comes 

 close over the blind, or alights in the water near it. 



It is interesting to watch one when it is fishing. Its 

 huge wings and long straddling legs make a great com- 

 motion over the water when it alights, though there is 

 no splash when it puts its feet down. The moment that 

 it has folded its wings, however, it straightens its legs, 

 neck and body, and for a long time stands bolt upright, 

 absolutely motionless, looking for all the world like a 

 straight, weathered stick standing out of the water. In 

 this position it resembles anything rather than a bird, 

 and its attitude is extremely ungraceful. The position 

 and the entire absence of motion are due, I suppose, 

 first to its desire to see whether any enemy is in the 



