108 
BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
dropped out of sight among the bushes. 
It is useless now to try to locate him. He 
looks like the grasses and bushes. 
Had we watched where he lit, we might 
see him standing stiff aid tall watching 
for frogs or fish. Again he takes his posi¬ 
tion on the tops of the tallest firs. The big 
fellow looks awkwardly out of place upon 
the small branches. He is three feet or 
more tall, so he looks much like a big 
weather cock upon a 200 foot pole. 
When the tide is out, he presents a 
queer appearance as he wades through 
the mud, deliberate, stiff-legged, grand¬ 
father style, his long necked curved, his 
eves staring intently into the shallow wa- 
ter watching for fish or frogs. 
We were camping upon the beach when 
one of these birds surveyed us curiously 
from a limb overhanging the beach a few 
yards away. He apparently did not know 
what the fire and smoke meant. 
Not content with so distant survey, he 
flew low, in a semi-circle around us alight¬ 
ing upon the salal bushes which over¬ 
hung the bank behind our ground table. 
The salal could not hold a big bird like 
that. It gave way; he slipped and caught 
his toes fast in the bushes. This turned 
him upside down and he hung there. His 
long legs were in the air and his bill al¬ 
most touched the ground. 
He appeared as well satisfied to make 
