188 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



and the downy, awkward birds find a resting place on 

 some convenient branch. Apparently they are quite at 

 home, though they do not look as if they were wholly 

 comfortable. Their legs are not fully equal to the task 

 of supporting the body for any length of time ; and, on 

 the other hand, the art of sitting down gracefully has 

 not yet been acquired. 



As these little green herons usually build in small 

 colonies, sometimes four or six nests are in one tree. 

 One summer, some few years ago, there were three nests 

 in this tree, and when the birds were about ten days old 

 every nest had tumbled down, and five young herons sat 

 in a row on one of the horizontal branches. They were 

 an odd-looking company, and, so far as the parent birds 

 were concerned, it must have been a difficult matter to 

 recognize their own offspring. 



When young herons happen to fall to the ground, as 

 is frequently the case, they are then beset by several 

 enemies, two of which are of unusual interest. These 

 are the musk-rat and the snapping-turtle. The homes of 

 both all summer are essentially aquatic. The musk-rat 

 does not often leave the water, and it is supposed that 

 the snapper never does at this time of year. When, 

 however, it happens that a young heron or two fall to 

 the ground, the parent birds notify the neighborhood to- 

 ward night-fall, and among those that quickly respond, 

 or at least are attracted by the sounds, are the musk-rats 

 and snappers. If either chance to find the young birds 

 they are quickly disposed of, although the parents offer a 

 vigorous, and at times an effectual, defense. A most in- 

 teresting point is that if, as appearances indicate, the 

 snapper was attracted by the cries of the herons, was it 

 out of the water at the time, or has it so acute a sense 

 of hearing that it is cognizant of occurrences above 



