The Changeful Skies 25 



such a wildness to the remaining marshes 

 hereabouts. With a background of blue sky 

 they might have passed unseen, but now 

 each was grandly pictured against the leaden 

 cloud, and in the still air I fancied I could 

 hear the rustling of their wing-beats. 



Slowly as they came they passed from 

 sight. When they were lost to me, I turned 

 hopefully to the point where they had ap- 

 peared, and, to my surprise, saw others. 

 These were not black specks, but white dots 

 that lengthened into lines and grew to great 

 white herons, following in the path of their 

 blue brethren. The clear air and leaden 

 background brought out every outline. I 

 could see them move their heads from side 

 to side, as if to view the old haunts of their 

 ancestors. How vividly they brought back 

 the days of old delight, when I was young 

 and the world newer than I find it now ! 

 those over-full days that in many a way 

 might have continued but for the ignorance 

 of man and the vanity of woman. It is a 

 red-letter day of late when we can see the 

 white herons on the river shore ; yet I have 

 seen them in great numbers, and it is on 

 record, " the white cranes did whiten the river 



