WOODLAND PATHS 



ents or as orphans at the public expense. 

 It all seemed a matter of supreme indiffer- 

 ence to these moon-hoax chicks. There is 

 much controversy as to whether animals 

 act from reason or from instinct. I am 

 convinced that these young night herons 

 contained spiral springs and basswood 

 wheels and that thence came their actions. 

 Probably had I looked them over care- 

 fully enough I should have found them 

 inscribed with the motto, " Made in 

 Switzerland." 



I fancy many people confound the night 

 heron, known to them only by his wild- 

 witch cry, voiced as he flies over their 

 canoe in the summer dusk, with the great 

 blue heron, -which is nearly twice as big 

 a bird. Perhaps I would better say twice 

 as long, in speaking of herons, for bigness 

 has little to do with them. I well remem- 

 ber my amazement as a small boy, coming 

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