78 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



holds its neck as if it were ready to strike its prey, — 

 stretched forward over the water, — but I saw no 

 stroke. The arch may be lengthened or shortened, sin- 

 gle or double, but the great spear-shaped bill and head 

 are ever the same. A great hammer or pick, prepared 

 to transfix fish, frog, or bird. At last, the water be- 

 coming too deep for wading, this one takes easily to 

 wing — though up to his body in water — and flies a 

 few rods to the shore. It rather flies, then, than swims. 

 It was evidently scared. These were probably birds 

 of this season. I saw some distinct ferruginous on the 

 angle of the wing. There they stood in the midst of 

 the open river, on this shallow and weedy bar in the 

 sun, the leisurely sentries, lazily pluming themselves, 

 as if the day were too long for them. They gave a new 

 character to the stream. Adjutant they were to my 

 idea of the river, these two winged men. 



You have not seen our weedy river, you do not know 

 the significance of its weedy bars, until you have seen 

 the blue heron wading and pluming itself on it. I see 

 that it was made for these shallows, and they for it. 

 Now the heron is gone from the weedy shoal, the scene 

 appears incomplete. Of course, the heron has sounded 

 the depth of the water on every bar of the river that is 

 fordable to it. The water there is not so many feet deep,> 

 but so many heron's tibiae. Instead of a foot rule you 

 should use a heron's leg for a measure. If you would 

 know the depth of the water on these few shoalest places 

 of Musketaquid, ask the blue heron that wades and 

 fishes there. In some places a heron can wade across. 



How long we may have gazed on a particular scenery 



