BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



Had her father got that Crane it would 

 doubtless have figured as a stuffed bird in his 

 library and its little nestlings would have been 

 left to starve. It is the fate that has befallen 

 many of these birds. Their size and their habit 

 of standing motionless in the water watching 

 for fish make them an easy mark for the tourist. 

 And their haunts are in country places where 

 laws for their protection have not always been 

 enforced. They are not fishers only; Cranes, 

 Storks, Herons and Bitterns are all destroyers 

 of insects. 



Where Cranes have been protected they be- 

 come very trusting. Just at the mouth of the 

 Indian River on our lake shore front, an artist 

 was sketching one bright, late afternoon when 

 the sound of wings drew her attention and di- 

 rectly a shadow crossed her canvas and a Crane 

 lit in the shallow water in front of her, only a 

 few yards away from the boys bathing in the 

 river. The boys continued to splash about, 

 shouting to one another to "Look at the 

 Crane." The Crane, quite undisturbed, stood 

 motionless watching for a fish, and the artist 

 had time to sketch it into the picture before a 

 splash (the movements were too rapid to be 

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