How the Green Heron Wandered 



199 



I had listened carefully to these descriptions. I was con- 

 vinced that he had made a great find. I knew that there was 

 no mistake for his statements were carefully made. I won- 

 dered if I would have a chance to observe the bird. At home 

 that night I put three well-illustrated bird books into the car. 



The manager was on hand when I arrived the next morn- 

 ing. We walked to the float. I could see how the heron would 

 be attracted, for hundreds of fat bullfrog tadpoles swam to 

 the surface and pushed their bodies partly out of water so 

 that the surface looked as if the rounded ends of innumera- 

 ble broomsticks were being projected into the air. There 

 could be no finer hunting. But the bird was not there. We 

 waited on a bench in the background for more than an hour 

 but it did not come. 



I decided that there was one thing that we could do while 

 we were waiting— that was to check the bird guides. I made 



