A SENSIBLE ARRANGEMENT 227 



if a couple of staid old gentlemen should 

 suddenly run at each other like a pair of 

 belligerent boys. 



Though I made many attempts to see the 

 great bird nearer, I was never able to accom- 

 plish it. No doubt long persecution had made 

 him suspicious, and my slightest approach to 

 the marsh was seen at once, and was the sig- 

 nal for the bird's departure. I did not wish 

 to drive him away from what was perhaps his 

 last retreat, so I abandoned the attempt to 

 get a closer view of one of our most interest- 

 ing birds. 



At another time, a good many years ago, 

 on a marsh farther down the coast, south of 

 New England, in fact, I was interested to see 

 another great bird, the American egret, feed- 

 ing. When the tide went out, five or six of 

 these birds would come up to feed on the edge 

 of the little pools together. They traveled 

 around the edge in single file, and naturally 

 the last one found rather poor pickings. I 

 was amused to see that the birds understood 

 the thing, and every few minutes the one at 

 the end of the procession would fly up over 

 the heads of his brethren and take his place 



