PICTURESQUE, NOT GRACEFUL 225 



held them up a moment like a butterfly's 

 wings, then carefully laid them down and ad- 

 justed them to place. All his common move- 

 ments were so deliberate it was often hard 

 to recognize him ; he looked like an object of 

 wood. 



Occasionally this giant bird would sit 

 down, draw his three or four feet of height 

 together and look just like a big duck. Again 

 he would hump up his shoulders, draw his 

 neck down between them, making himself 

 look like pictures we often see. In whatever 

 attitude he assumed he was picturesque, but 

 not always graceful, as when his long neck 

 stretched up its full length, like a stick. 



On one occasion a crow swooped down at 

 him, but the heron met him halfway, spring- 

 ing up into the air as if threatening to catch 

 him, upon which the crow thought better of 

 it and left. 



In color this bird, though called blue, har- 

 monized so perfectly with the ground that 

 he was almost invisible when still, but the 

 moment he spread his wings he was exceed- 

 ingly conspicuous, such enormous extent 

 of feathers, so slowly flapped, such a heavy 



