How the Green Heron Wandered 201 



Some newly arrived red-backed sandpipers flushed and 

 burst through a flock of young swallows which flew clumsily 

 about. The swallows were driven to the canal bank and I 

 watched them trying to balance themselves on swaying bul- 

 rushes. I had begun to feel quite proud of my ability to for- 

 get my disappointment of the morning. I had been slow in 

 realizing that happiness in the field could only be learned 

 by emphasizing the importance of little things, and by be- 

 lieving, like the tailor in Sartor Resartus, that those who do 

 not expect too much will be made happy by the small things 

 that come their way. 



Perhaps my philosophic acceptance had its own reward, 

 for later in the morning and after I had completely dismissed 

 the thought of the visitor a brown, medium-sized bird raised 

 its blackish crest as it flew out of a willow on the edge of 

 the cattails. It uttered a frequently repeated skee-ow, and 

 flew slowly along the bank with its yellowish-green legs 

 dangling. I fairly caught my breath. I think I gazed at it as 

 a prairie boy might watch his first steamship. For there was 

 my bird, the green heron. As usual, the manager had been 

 correct: he had realized immediately that the bird was a 

 stranger, and had noted every peculiarity so that he could 

 describe it carefully. 



A green heron is not a bird which would excite an East- 

 erner, who lives where it is plentiful. It would be as unre- 

 markable as a magpie in an eastern Washington coulee, but 

 in our area it has the rarity that a -magpie would have in 

 New England. I had looked about with an added sense of 

 the importance of the marsh— to think that so small an area 

 in so crowded a location could harbor such a rare and inter- 

 esting bird. 



As the canoe advanced, the bird had watched from a low 

 willow, each foot gripping a branch, neck outstretched, and 

 eyes apparently glaring at me. I reached for my camera but 

 before I could adjust it, the bird made a movement which I 



