40 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



romantic spot. Other species of tins 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 suppose 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 field 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 drop to the ground and 

 barely escape being trodden upon, 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 



