1/4 LIVING CREATURES. 



4O. WADING BIRDS AND SHORE BIRDS. 



I COME from haunts of coot and hern: 



I make a sudden sally, 

 And sparkle out among the fern 



To bicker down a valley. Tennyson. 



IT is Tennyson's Brook that speaks, and it comes 

 from a wild pond which is the haunt of the coot and 

 the heron. While the reader is learning about the 

 heron, let him learn by heart the whole poem of The 

 Brook. The habits of the different kinds of water-feed- 

 ing birds are leading us to the shallow edges, and will 

 soon carry us entirely away from broad sheets of water. 



The coot is the common 

 little mud-hen of the marshes, 

 and is interesting because of its 

 lobed foot, which has flaps 

 on the sides of the toes. The 

 heron, the stork, and the 

 crane are usually to be seen 

 at the zoological gardens. 

 The stork is a European bird, 



American Coot. 



and in some localities is quite 



domestic. These waders have long necks ; this is be- 

 cause they have long legs. The neck must be long 

 enough to bring the bill back to the ground from which 

 the legs take it away. 



Of the several kinds of heron, the large blue heron 

 is distinguished by its long sharp bill, the plume or 

 crest on its head, and the dull blue color of its upper 

 parts. It wades into the water and stands perfectly 



