Great Blue Heron 
257 
some shallow pool among the sedges along the 
creek or river side, silently, solemnly, hour after 
hour, for a little fish, frog, lizard, snake, or 
some large insect to come within striking dis- 
tance. With a sudden stroke of his long, strong, 
sharp bill, he either snaps up his victim, or runs 
it through. A fish will be tossed in the air 
before being swallowed, head downward, that 
the fins may not scratch his very long, slender 
throat. When you are eating ice cream, don’t 
you wish your throat were as long as this 
heron’s? 
A gunner, who wantonly shoots at any living 
target, will usually try to excuse himself for 
striking down this stately, picturesque bird 
into a useless mass of flesh and feathers, by 
saying that herons help themselves to too many 
fish. (He forgets about all the mice and 
reptiles they destroy.) But perhaps birds, as 
well as men, are entitled to a fair share of the 
good things of the Creator. Some people 
would prefer the sight of this majestic bird to 
the small, worthless fish he eats. What do you 
think about protecting him by law? Any one 
may shoot him now. The broad side of a barn 
would be about as good a test of a marksman’s 
skill. 
The evil that birds do surely lives after them ; 
the good they do for us is far too little ap- 
preciated. Almost the last snowy heron and 
