VANISHING NIGHT HERONS 



touched with rufous and black on other 

 parts of the body. It is a pleasure to 

 watch his graven-image pose, but it is an 

 even greater one to see him take flight. 

 His long legs bend under him, and he 

 springs forward into the air in a mighty 

 parabola. The wings arch in similar 

 curves and lift him with the very first 

 stroke seemingly a rod in air, and as they 

 arch forward for the second the long out- 

 stretched neck draws back and the long 

 legs trail in very faithful reproduction of 

 the ornamentation on a Japanese screen. 

 You hardly feel that here is a living crea- 

 ture, flying away from fear of you. It is 

 rather as if a skillful decorator had magic- 

 ally painted the great bird in on the drop 

 scene in front of you. But the flight of 

 the great blue heron is strong if his body 

 is small in comparison with his other 

 dimensions, and he rapidly rises in the 

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