40 WASTE-LAXD WAXDERIXGS. 



romantic spot. Other species of this family of birds 

 are usually found here, the night -herons particularly; 

 and years ago, as certain old records show, the banks 

 and shallows of the creek were "spotted gray and white 

 with birds like unto storks." Then, as now, these con- 

 spicuous birds found the proximity of the forest to their 

 feeding grounds conducive to their safety. 



It is natural for those inexperienced in observing 

 birds, to snjDj^ose that the branches and foliage of a tree 

 would afford but little if any protection to a bird as 

 large as a night-heron, standing as it does fully two feet 

 in height, and having a bulky, conspicuously colored 

 body. As a matter of fact, when it is perched in a tall 

 tree, it seems to study the effect of light and shade, and 

 remaining quite motionless, is difficult to detect. I be- 

 lieve my eyesight is better than that of most people, and 

 yet I have more than once spent fully half an hour in 

 determining the precise position of a cunning heron that 

 so " mingled " with the branches and leaves of a beech, 

 that it seemed a part of the tree in which it stood. 



After a few weeks of Held observation, it will be 

 readily admitted by all, that the majority of birds have 

 a well defined color sense. Of course it will not be ap- 

 parent if the birds are not disturbed, but it becomes 

 evident when they are pursued, unless they seek to es- 

 cape by a protracted flight. Often I have known small 

 birds, that from some cause, such as nesting, were averse 

 to leaving a particular spot, to droj) to the ground and 

 barely escape being trodden uj)on, while I was craning 

 my neck and scanning every twig of the tree or bush 

 upon which I supposed them to be sitting. This is a 



