204 A GREAT BLUE HERON. 



posed upon ; a little inclined to withstand the 

 "tyrant of his fields," just for principle's 

 sake, as patriots ought to do? Or was he a 

 young fellow, in whom heredity had myste- 

 riously omitted to load the bump of caution, 

 and upon whom experience had not yet en- 

 forced the lesson that if a creature is taller 

 and stronger than you are, it is prudent to 

 assume that he will most likely think it a 

 pleasant bit of sport to kill you? It is no- 

 thing to the credit of humankind that the 

 sight of an unsuspicious bird in a marsh or 

 on the beach should have become a subject 

 for wonder. 



