Song Birds and Water Fowl 



ous colonies are scattered throughout New Eng- 

 land and other States; yet the seclusion of their 

 resorts makes them as unfamiliar to the general 

 public as are the rarest of the so-called land- 

 birds. 



The much larger and handsomer "great blue 

 heron ' ' is usually a solitary bird, and much more 

 of a rarity. On reaching Lake George I learned 

 that this species was sometimes to be seen in the 

 swamps across the lake. As the " great blue " 

 was one of my ornithological ambitions, the in- 

 formation was extremely welcome. After two 

 or three preliminary rows on the lake, for mus- 

 cular development, I started out one morning 

 to find the prize. The round trip was about ten 

 miles — country folks have no idea of distances, 

 and this is the average of many wildly contra- 

 dictory estimates — and my broad and heavy 

 boat was warranted not to capsize in any storm. 

 I wandered through the waters of the swamp, 

 among water-lilies — of four species — bright 

 skies above, and hundreds of red-winged black- 

 birds around, with numerous other sorts that, at 

 another time, would have been quite entertain- 

 ing enough, by themselves, for a pleasant excur- 

 246 



