A City With no Mayor, no Policeman and no Judge, Yet 

 Quarrels Are Frequent. 



I have repeatedly visited the bird city on both islands and 

 have even spent a whole night there. I could discover no 

 mayor, policeman or judge. There seemed to be a good many 

 neighborly quarrels and bickerings, but these were always 

 peaceably settled by the parties immediately concerned. They 

 displayed a good deal of temper, croaked and grunted, flapped 

 their big wings and jabbed their spear-like bills at each other 

 but after a few minutes of noisy quarreling about a desirable 

 perch, everything settled down again to a condition of medi- 

 tative peace and quiet neighborliness. During the hours of 

 early morning many of the birds depart to their feeding 

 grounds but at all hours of the day many of the birds are 

 at home and towards evening nearly all come home. As far 

 as is known they feed on an area of twenty-five to forty miles 

 in all directions from their town; comparatively few are seen 

 feeding on the shores of Minnetonka. Their food consists 

 principally of fish and frogs. 



About the first of June the first young are hatched and by 

 the middle of July all have learned to fly. If one visits the 

 colony in August he will most likely not find a single heron 

 on the island. What becomes of them is something of a 

 mystery but many observations lead me to believe that they 

 scatter and roam far and wide to any desirable feeding 

 grounds, for I have, at this time seen a few solitary herons 

 on lakes and marshes a hundred miles from any known 

 heronry. At this season they no longer return but roost and 

 sleep in trees near their feeding ground. 



How a Heron Stabs to Death Its Prey and Carries it Away. 



Once I came upon heron just as he had caught a catfish 

 or bullhead, perhaps ten inches long. I ran quickly toward 

 the avian fisherman intending to rob him of his catch in order 

 to study his method of spearing catfish. He gave me a hasty 

 glance then bestowed a few hurried stabs on the flopping fish 

 and rose into the air with his quieted prey before I could 

 come close enough to rob him of it. 



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