30 The Night Herons, and their Exodus. [ January, 
old bird, perhaps the patriarch of the tribe, sprang into the air 
. with a startling qua! which, after a pause as if to gather assurance, 
was repeated—Qua! qua! qua! Up flew another, and another; 
then many, all joining in the one wild out cry of qua! qua! qua! as 
they circled in air, loath to let their nests be out of sight. It was 
a wild chorus of alarm, utterly unmethodical, but perfectly up- 
roarious, while over the edges of the rude nests of sticks peeped 
hundreds of little callow heads in mute astonishment, as if to see 
what could be below to incite so great a tumult above. Almost 
in the heart of that small grove I countéd fifty herons’ nests. 
These nests were high up in the leafy domes already spoken of. 
In some instances I noted three, and even four nests in one tree. 
Some writers I find saying that in the breeding season, the qua- 
bird is less suspicious. Assuredly it seemed to me that these 
herons could not be more circumspect. To come upon them by 
surprise was just impossible. From a distance no one can see 
them in their leafy outlooks, but they can see you; and should 
one approach too closely, the nearest male bird will give the 
alarm. 
I noticed that the females whose incubation was not completed 
did not leave their nests. I have no doubt that they were waiting 
further signals from above. 
Query: What notice of change in the situation can a bird give 
whose whole vocabulary is contained in the one monosyllable, 
_ qua? But do not philologists tell us that in some of the dialects 
of “The Flowery Land,” that even a monosyllabic word may 
have eight significations if spoken in so many different tones? 
Thus if a barbarian outsider might be allowed to improvise a bit 
of barbarous Chinese, one might say shod, to mean lovely, or all 
right; and shoo, to signify awake, or all Aside 3 And pray why 
not as much in the bird lingo? 
Here let me mention an incident. Not knowing that one of 
the party was behind us making a feint of climbing a tree with a 
nest in it, there was observed an increase of commotion in the 
= air. To a question what are the quas doing, the answer returned 
= was: “They are taking a bird’s eye view of the situation.” > I 
_ requested the aspiring youth whose conduct had intensified the 
_ Stir above, to climb the tree and get a young one from the nest, 
that we might see it. Now began that change in the bird talk. 
_ It was qua! still, but in a different tone, and one which was under- 
4 stood by the sitting birds, for they spring from their nests and - 
