GREAT HLUE HERON. 7 1 



The lank grey form stands motionless in the 

 ripplinp; tide until the unwary fishes fori^^et that 

 the crooked shadow is a thinu; of life at all. 

 Then, slowly the huge, rapier -like hill, poised on 

 the slender arched neck, is lowered to the level 

 of the water, and with rapid, hut silent move- 

 ments, the sportive fmnies are conve)ed one by 

 one to his i)Ouch. I have disturbed a Heron after 

 such a "haul," and he was unable to rise from 

 the ground until he had first disgorged ten good 

 sized fishes from his crop. In the latter part of 

 summer, the young, full-fledged, are down to the 

 fishing with their parents. 'I'hen, on a glowing 

 autumn evening, when the broad reach of the 

 weedy hay is all glinting with golden light, the 

 tall, light -colored forms of scores of these birds, 

 standing all over its surface, and enlarged in ap- 

 pearance b)- the vividly reflected light, look more 

 like phantoms of the deep than the very practical 

 fishers that they are. When the tide is up, 

 "cranes" rest themselves roosting on trees in the 

 vicinity of the water, or go to the meadows for 

 a meal of grasshoppers. 



'I'he American Bittern ( Botanrns vuigitans) is 

 much less common than the Heron. A few 



