208 Union Bay 



It was their habit to return to the same territory, to the same 

 field or woodlot, and often to the same part of a field or the 

 identical tree which they had previously occupied. The de- 

 parture and arrival of such birds ordinarily were quite reg- 

 ular. This decided upset puzzled me. 



In late August another green heron arrived. I speculated 

 as to whether it would leave on schedule. I missed it on two 

 visits and noted its departure in my records. But I was forced 

 to withdraw the entry. This bird was either the pioneer of 

 the year before or another equally hardy bird, for it re- 

 mained through a moderately hard winter and left in Feb- 

 ruary just before the arrival of the tree swallows. I would 

 have given much to learn its destination, its direction, and 

 its distance. 



I knew no rules which would enable me to forecast the 

 schedule of this species. For three years it had left moder- 

 ately early in the fall; for two years it had remained in the 

 marsh all winter. I had never seen such variation and won- 

 dered whether its marsh stays would always be so uncertain. 

 But it never wintered again. For the next four years the 

 green heron appeared in April or May and then disappeared 

 after a short visit. It reappeared in the period between mid- 

 dle July and September, and left before November 1. This 

 schedule may prove to be its natural one. 



By this time the long legs and dangling flight, ahead of the 

 canoe, together with its harsh skee-ow, had been noticed by 

 canoeists and in season they began to report the presence of 

 two or three birds in the marsh. One man stated that he had 

 seen five, but I thought that birds might have recrossed his 

 path and been counted twice. Several other enthusiasts co- 

 operated with inspections and reports. One of them, a stu- 

 dent, reported that she had seen a young heron in the neigh- 

 borhood. We decided to watch carefully for nesting birds 

 the next season. 



The combined observations gave us a fairly good idea of 



