122 THE HERON OF CASTLE CREEK 



of the young herons was, of course, not known 

 to the watcher ; bub, had he possessed their 

 keenness of vision, and occupied a hiding-place 

 beside them, he would have learned that the 

 lean, lanky birds, apparently ill-fed, were wonder- 

 fully fitted to meet the difficulties of life. Some- 

 times the old heron waded thigh-deep in the lake, 

 and, seeing a trout or a frog beneath a lily-pad, 

 stole up to the creature without giving it the 

 slightest indication of her approach. Sometimes, 

 either because her presence was detected, or 

 because the over-anxiety of the fledglings to 

 imitate her methods caused alarm, her quarry 

 fled precipitately to refuge among the reeds or 

 beneath the pebbles. Not in the least discon- 

 certed, the heron marked the wake of the fleeing 

 creature, cast ahead and viewed the dim little 

 form shooting down into the depths, then, with 

 the utmost weariness, stalked it again to its new- 

 found hiding-place. 



For some time the inexpert fledglings failed 

 entirely in their attempts to learn the secret of 

 their mother's good fortune ; they lifted their 

 feet too high and splashed the water, instead of 

 advancing stealthily and raising their feet only 

 sufficiently to avoid the surface of the pebbly 

 bed. They lacked the old bird's knowledge of 

 the likeliest spot for a basking trout, and they 

 could not follow the movements of their prey 



