32 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



men hunt and shoot them daily, their number has not 

 diminished. 



NOTE TO TEACHER. Yourself and pupils interested should send 

 for a copy of Some Common Birds in their Relation to Agriculture, by 

 F. E. L. Beal, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, 

 No. 54. This valuable pamphlet gives information about the food of 

 more than twenty of our common birds, and contains very good figures 

 of as many birds. 



19. The Great Blue Heron. 



MATERIAL : Picture of great blue heron and other herons. If pos- 

 sible, pupils should have observed the great blue heron in his native 

 haunts. The teacher ought to have made these observations, if the 

 pupils could not. Visit a heronry if you can. Draw a life-size picture 

 of the heron on the blackboard. Substitute some other member of 

 the heron family, if you prefer. 



How many of you boys have ever been hunting ducks in 

 September or have rambled along lakes and streams in sum- 

 mer ? You have found secluded bays, which with high 

 trees around them, with tall thin rushes growing in patches 

 in the placid water and gently swayed by the summer breeze, 

 and with water lilies peeping out from amongst the grand, 

 floating leaves, make a most charming picture. If you are 

 lucky enough to see one or two Great Blue Herons fishing 

 in the shallow water or frogging along the shore, then 

 you have indeed a landscape with a soul, with real, visible 

 life. 



This magnificent bird stands fully three feet high. On 

 account of its slate-blue back and large size, it is called the 

 great blue heron, or blue crane. He is the monarch of 

 the lake shore and the terror of frogs and fish. Just as 

 patiently as the frog waits for insects to approach him, the 

 blue heron waits for fish to come within reach of his long 

 sharp bill. Or he walks gravely along the water's edge and 

 spears the frogs he happens to hunt up. His long legs, 

 neck, and bill excellently fit him for this kind of hunt. He 



