32 



Trying out the Plan of Identification. 



Now to put our plan of identification to the proof. We are 

 boating some cloudy afternoon along the margin of a river 

 meadow. We enter an opening crowded with lily pads, where 

 a small slough opens into the stream. A bird larger than a 

 crow flies up from among the reeds; its long, nearly straight 

 beak, its short tail, its long legs, hanging down at the start, 

 and its manner of flight, with neck extended at first and then 

 drawn in, proclaims to the world that it is a heron. It ap- 



Night heron. 



pears to be ash gray above, whitish below, but looks blackish 

 on the crown and back. As it flaps heavily away it sends back 

 a loud quock. We have seen enough to learn from our key 

 that the bird is an adult night heron. Soon another flies. 

 It appears like the first in size, but it is rich brown in color 

 above and lighter below, streaked and mottled. Its note is a 

 croak, not nearly so explosive as that of the first bird, and it 

 flies a little slower. Our book tells us at once that we have 

 seen the American bittern, even if we have failed to observe 

 the black streak on the side of the neck. As we drift on down 

 the river, a startling scowoo comes from the trees on shore, 

 followed later by a few dry cacklings. Then a smaller heron, 



