THOREAU'S WALDEN 71 



fearlessly along the margin, was the single little 

 green heron that has made the pond his abiding 

 place for a while. There is but one, nor are there 

 any signs that herons have nested about the pond 

 this year, so I fancy this bird is a bachelor visitor 

 seeking to reduce living to its lowest terms and 

 finding on the Walden shore the simplicity and 

 seclusion that is the spirit of the place. He is as 

 taciturn and patient as any hermit could be. 

 When his country seat on one shore is invaded he 

 simply flies silently to another and there resumes 

 that inward contemplation which is as character- 

 istic of the bird as the rattling, vibrating flight is 

 of the kingfisher. The little green heron was a 

 recluse of the pond shore long before the first 

 pioneer planted his cabin in Concord. His kin 

 still cling to the place which is as lovely and lonely 

 now as it was then. 



At nightfall deep peace settles upon the little 

 pond. The shores that were so distant to the eye 

 in the noonday haze draw in f riendlily toward one 

 another, and the last light slips through the trees 

 to westward and throws a coverlet of shadow 

 over this sleepy child of the woods. In the grow- 



