Sept. i, 1900.} 
c\'ery one of the children took a prompt header into the 
pool and swam to the bottom, from which they collected 
all the poison vines, and did not rest imtil the}^ had 
"dragged them into a tide channel, where they might 
lioat away. I should hardly have thought of tjiat last 
detail, but it argues in Talolo a recognition of the prin- 
ciples of game preservation. When that had been ac- 
complished Talolo told ofT the detachments of youngsters 
who were to carry ashore my various belongings, re- 
serving for himself the fish, and then I noticed that the 
taboo on the fish had proved so strong that not one of 
meaner rank had so much as touched them. 
On the beach he and I conducted the important opera- 
tion of counting the catch. As he laid them out in 
order on broad banana leaves, I reckoned twenty-eight, 
but Talolo positively announced seven. When I first 
encountered that proposition I had found it hard to 
understand, but in time I became reconciled to the 
mysteries of Samoan counting, even though I never 
really acquired the art in all its niceties. The "tasi, lua, 
tolu, fa" became as familiar to me as my "one, two, 
three," but I was always forgetting when two were one 
and when one was one, and when three were one. Co- 
coanuts are an example; two drinking nuts count one; 
palusami, if I remember correctly, it takes three to be 
counted as one. Evidently with "these tabooed fish the 
unit was four. After the count Talolo claimed two, mean- 
ing eight according to my count, for his father Le Patu, 
inasmuch as he was chief of the village, and therefore 
entitled to his rake-off in accordance with the princi- 
ples which are found universally applicable to rank and 
station. 
As to m.y own "five" of the gayly painted fish (really 
twenty according to my arithmetic), I lost no time in 
putting them to the pan test. Like all the smaller fish 
of the coral waters, they were good eating, yet not so 
conspicuously good as to account for the chiefly taboo 
that has been placed upon them. Biit I had an amusing 
experience with Tanoa when it came to cooking the 
dinner. He had a shadow of title to rank as a talking 
man in some distant village, and indeed he had no 
greater delight than to bawl ceremonial speeches on 
my behalf, but a talking man is far removed from a 
chief, and he explained that he was not high enough 
to touch these fish. After a long argument, I did suc- 
ceed in convincing him that he could do for me what he 
could by no means do on his own account. So he dressed 
the fish and put them on the pan, but I could see that 
he was b}' no means at his customary ease. We had some 
for dinner and some for breakfast, and still there were 
several left over, since not one of my domestics would 
dare touch the fish for their own food. After break- 
fast I heard Tanoa shouting a speech on the village 
green outside of our compound, and the burden of his 
address was that out of the goodness of my heart I was 
presenting to the chiefs of Vaiala "three" of the tabooed 
fish, which of course meant a dozen. This was as good 
as any way of disposing of them, for there was no way 
of keeping them for the next dinner. The talking man 
of Vaiala made a long speech in acknowledgment, and 
then the highest chief there present stalked out from 
the great house of the village, picked up the leaf on which 
the fish lay, raised them formally to his head and car- 
ried them from view. As it was not long before the 
smoke began to curl up from the village pit ovens, I 
have reason to believe that my fish fed the chiefs. 
Llewell.\ Pierce Churchill. 
Three Feathered Fishermen. 
One summer afternoon not so very long ago I was 
lying in the" shade of some alder bushes on the bank of a 
little Connecticut stream pulling at a friendly old pipe 
and watching the pale blue smoke curls roll gently out 
over the water. I had been fishing, or pretending to fish, 
for nothing in particular, and had been as successful as 
such indifference deserved. In other words, I had not had 
a nibble, and I thought I would just finish my pipe and 
then saunter up the river to a spot where the" fish were 
more enthusiastic and would usually bite at anything, pro- 
viding there was a hook attached to it. 
I arose and stretched myself and was about to pick up 
my rod and make a start, when, from a dark opening in 
tlie woodland which lined the further shore, a large slate- 
blue bird came flapping slowly across the water toward a 
strip of grassy bank some 50 yards above me. With his 
graceful neck curved back between his shoulders, and 
with his long, black legs trailing rudder-like in his wake, 
there was no mistaking the majestic form of that prince 
of fishermen — the great blue heron. He alighted, and 
with a few long, deliberate strides took up his position 
near a small clump of reeds, where he stood as motion- 
less and inconspicuous as a weather-beaten stump. I sank 
down again in the shadow. There were now several 
reasons why I would not walk up the stream. In the first 
place, I could not violate the etiquette of the sport bv 
disturbing a fellow member of the Walton brotherhood, 
particularly as his supper depended on his success. But 
apart from all courtesy, I had a great curiosity to see 
this master craftsman display his skill; I felt that interest 
and respect which nearly all amateurs feel for the work of 
a professional. 
As he stood there with his head drawn close to his 
body, his attitude appeared to be meditative rather than 
alert, but I knew that his eyes were taking note of eveiy 
ripple on the water, and every movement beneath its 
surface. For some time he remained absolutely motion- 
less, but presently I thought I noticed the head moving 
stealthily forward. Then, as though propelled by a steel 
spring, the spear-like bill was hurled into the water, and a 
moment later my friend was beating to death the first fish 
nf his "string." He swallowed head first, and with 
his bill and crest still wet and shming he resumed his 
attitude of meditation. There was no unseemlv hnrvy or 
excitement as we sometimes see displayed by other birds ; 
just quiet confidence, silent dignity. I instinctively felt 
that I was in the presence of a gentleman : unobtrusive 
himself, and for reasons of his own desiring to be left 
alone. Again there was ajightning thrust, and an unfor- 
FOHEST AND STREAM. 
tunate green frog was soon following the fish. Before the 
surface of the water had become quiet again, the heron 
was standing impassive as before. Now he slowly raised 
one leg, and tucking it under his wing, stood perfectly 
steady upon the other one. 
It was some time before he struck again, and in the 
meantime he might have been a snag sticking out of the 
bank for any evidence of life wduch he gave. At last, how- 
ever, the seeming snag leaned slightly toward the river. 
There was a movement Avhich the eye could not follow, a 
swirl in the shallow water, and the heron jerked his 
dripping head into the air. He had missed his aim. 
There was nothing but the fact to show that he had not 
been successful; not the slightest visible irritation or im- 
patience as he quietly resumed his former attitude. 
I watched him fishing thus until the long shadows of 
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. 
Photo by E. H. Baynes. 
the trees across the riyer crept over the water, and until 
at last he mounted slowly into the air and disappeared 
oA'er the wood from which he came. 
Thus did I first become personally acquainted with this 
noble bird, and I felt myself a privileged character, as one 
who is taken into the confidence of some old and illus- 
trious family, and day-dreaming, my thoughts went back- 
to the time when the ancients regarded the heron as an 
augur and consulted him concerning the coming of storms 
and tempests. Then, in imagination, I followed the bird 
to the middle ages. I was out upon a great plain, bordered 
by a wood on one side and by a river on the other. The 
wood was the home of a thousand pairs of herons, and in 
the early mornings the sun shone upon the plumage and 
spear-like bills of an army of birds as they Avinged their 
waj' at vast heights toward the river. 
It was afternoon now, and the herons were beginning 
LITTLE GREEN HERON. 
Photo by E. H. Baynes. 
to return from their feeding grounds, singly and in twos 
and threes. Presentlj- a gay party appeared upon the 
plain ; knights and ladies in quaint costumes, mounted on 
spirited and richly caparisoned horses, and all laughing 
with good-nature and the anticipation of amusement. It 
was a royal hawking party, equipped for heron-hawking. 
They were accompanied by four Dutch falconers and a 
man on foot carried six couples of trained peregrine fal- 
cons on an oblong frame of wood padded with leather. 
This man walked in the middle of the frame, which hung 
by two leather straps from his shoulders. All the hawks 
had leather hoods oyer their eyes, and sweet-toned 
tinkling bells were hung upon their leg rings. One of the 
knights called the chief falconer and made some inquiry 
about the wind. The man pointed to a few fleecy clouds 
which were drifting against the blue skv' in the direction 
of the heronry. This appeared to be satisfactory to the 
knight, who nodded his head, and immediately the fal- 
coners began to take the falcons from the frame. When 
each had a -bird upon his wrist, they mounted their horses 
163 
and sat watching the sky m the direction of the river. 
Presently a heron flAdng at a great height appeared, com- 
ing homeward on the wind. Two of the falconers rode 
out again upon the plain and stationed themselves directly 
in his path. When he was almost above them, they slipped 
the hoods from the heads of the falcons, which, looking 
upward, were but a moment in catching sight of the heron. 
The straps which held the birds to the wrist were quickly 
loosened, and encouraged by the cries of the falconers, the 
hawks dashed away skyward. They rose in a spiral, and 
the heron, seeing the approaching danger, also began to 
soar. The falcons, however, being much swifter of wing, 
soon gained upon their prey, which, the better to evade 
the expected attack, disgorged his cargo of three or 
four fish in mid-air. One of the hawks, now rising well 
above the heron, half-folded her wings and descended 
like feathered lightning upon her prey. The latter, how- 
ever, alive to every movement of his pursurer, shifted 
from under at the critical moment, and the falcon, missing 
her aim, shot far below hirn. The second falcon now 
coming up, "stooped" in her turn, to be evaded as skill- 
fully as the first one had been. Six times did the noble 
bird escape the merciless talons of the hawks, and each 
lime did the latter return to the attack. At the next 
"stoop," however, the heron, doubtless wearied by his 
many efforts to escape, was unable to evade the furious 
onslaught of the falcon, who struck him full upon the 
neck. The other falcon now made her ".stoop." and 
"binding to," all three birds on outspread wings came 
floating down together. As soon as they reached the 
ground, the heron began to thrash about with his bill, and 
a falconer running up grasped him by the neck to prevent 
him from injuring a falcon. As a reward for their 
work, the hawks were given a live pigeon, which they 
tore in pieces and devoured in the presence of the 
falconer. 
In the meantime a couple of fresh hawks were let loose 
at another heron, which also succeeded in dodging its 
enemies for some time. At last, becoming tired and 
seeing a falcon swooping down upon him, he threw back 
his head as though to ward oft' the blow, and received his 
adversary upon the point of his long, sharp bill. The 
force with which llie hawk struck was sufficient to drive 
the bill through her body, and hawk and heron came 
tumbling to the ground together. The hawk was dead, 
but the heron was taken alive, and later in the day sent 
up for a single falcon, who struck it down at the first 
^•stoop." 
As they came to the ground, the scene changed, jyid I 
imagined myself wandering with Alexander Wilson in 
one of the great cedar swamps of southern New Jersey. 
Now we were Avading knee deep in Avater hidden by green 
scum, and stained to the color of coffee by the decaying 
vegetation of ages, Noav we Avere forcing our way 
through tangles of close-growing laurel, or scrambling 
over rotting, moss-covered tree trunks. Overhead the 
tree tops Avere locked together, shutting out the sun 
and causing a perpetual gloom. At times the stillness 
Avas broken by the hammering of a Avoodpecker. or the 
guttural croaking of a frog; and occasionally from the 
depths of the lonely forest came the hoarse scream of a 
heron. We pressed on through treacherous bogs and 
almost impassable undergroAvth to a dismal spot where a 
score of giant cedars stood with their gnarled roots 
^^quirming like water snakes in the slimy ooze. In the 
top of each of the.se trees AvaA^ed a great mass of sticks, 
and above them majestic birds flapped back and forth, 
honking loudly like Avild geese. We Avere in a heronry of 
great blue herons. We climbed up to some of the nests 
and found them rather shallow and lined with smaller 
sticks. Some of them contained four large light blue 
eggs, and others pearl-gray young. The latter were fat 
and heavy, and Avere doubtless well-supplied with fish 
and frogs by their untiring parents. 
As I Avafched them I thought I heard Wilson calling 
me, and as I started up to go to him I found myself stiU 
lying on the bank of the little Connecticut stream. It 
Avas already (Jusk. and my clothing Avas damp Avith the 
falling dew. 
I took up my rod and creel and started homeward along 
the river. Frogs were tuning their bagpipes near the 
liank, and bats could be seen flitting and Avheeling against 
the Avestern sky. A voice from the air almost above me 
called "Quok," and I looked up to see the dim form of a 
large bird hurrying along tOAvard Long Island Sound. An 
instant and the gloom had SAvalloAved him, but from the 
rising mist there came to me that lonely cry, each time 
more faintly than before, Avhich ahvays has for me a 
subtler charm than the brilliant music of the brown 
thrasher or the little flute-like whi.stle of the Baltimore 
oriole. It- was the' A'oice of the black-crowned night 
heron, whose black, white and gray plumage makes it the 
most conspicuous member of its family to be seen in New 
England. Night herons are much more numerous than 
their big, blue cousins, and some single heronries con- 
tain the nests of more than a thousand pairs of birds. 
Nevertheless, OAving to their nocturnal habits they are 
not so frequently .seen, except in the breeding season Avhen 
the voracity of the young often causes them to visit their 
muddy feeding grounds both by day and night. Their 
food consists chiefly of small fish, Avhich they capture 
along the shores of both fresh and salt water. The young 
birds in their first plumage are totally unlike their 
parents. They are grayish broAvn in color, and for a 
long time they were suppo,sed to be the female birds. As a 
matter of fact, hoAvever, the latter so closely resemble the 
males that it is almost impossible to distinguish them 
Avithout resorting to dissection. 
If we leaA'e out of account their more distant relations, 
the bitterns, but one other member of the family besides 
the two herons mentioned nests in Ncav England. This 
is the diminutive green heron or poke. We see the 
little felloAv most frequently along the shores of ponds 
and creeks or the banks of wooded streams, where he 
wades for his food of small fish and frogs. Sometinies 
he may be found standing perfectly rigid, waiting for fish 
to come within striking distance, or watching for the re- 
appearance of a frog Avhich is hiding in the mud. In the 
latter case the moment the luckless batrachian pokes his 
nose out of his hiding place, he is seized in the heron's 
bill, beaten to death on the bank and swalloAved at the 
convenience of his captor. 
Unlike most other members of their family, Jittlcgreen 
