FOREST AND STREAM. 
NATURAL EUSTORY | [Re 
[APRIL 7, 1906. 

The Silent Fisherman. 
WovuLp you see the most charming symphonies 
in color, turn to nature’s easel. Blending her 
tints with lavish hand, she never makes a mis- 
take. The colors of the great blue heron or 
“big crane,” giant of a fast vanishing race, well 
illustrate the possibilities afforded by a meager 
palette. It is a rare combination in blue-black 
and white, with various intermediate shades, the 
touches of rufous color on the forewings, legs 
and front of the neck adding richness to the 
effect without marring its harmony. 
As seen.at rest, blue-gray predominates in the 
plumage, with almost black in front of the 
wings. The back of the neck is a soft dove 
color; the front nearly white save for numer- 
ous black or rufous markings. The snowy 
crown is margined with black, the crest, which 
measures seven inches to the tip, being volun- 
tarily raised or lowered. Very narrow, almost 
lavender-colored feathers form a regal mantle 
covering the upper part of the back, and similar 
ones droop from the breast in such a way as to 
remind one, save in color, of that strangely 
beautiful flower, the night-blooming cereus. _ 
The bill is about five and one-half inches in 
length and bright yellow above. The glistening 
yellow iris and large black pupil suggest the 
keenest of vision. When in repose with its head 
curled’on its breast, the bird measures scarcely 
two feet in height, despite its long legs; but at 
the slightest sound the head raises to fully four 
feet in air. If thoroughly alarmed, the back 
humps up and the gray wings unfold with a 
spread of nearly six feet, showing when ex- 
panded a broad band of darker gray entirely 
concealed when the bird is at rest. 
Nature has many skillful devices for the pro- 
tection of her wards, but those who have seen 
the blue heron only in captivity would little 
suspect how completely its colors mimic those 
of the rocks and tree trunks, mid which its 
seeks refuge. Besides, its entire demeanor em- 
inently fits it for concealment. The white crown 
and yellow bill, easily its most conspicuous 
marks, are at the least disturbance practically 
hidden by a throwing back of the head, while 
the lower part of the bill and neck are so in- 
conspicuously colored as to be scarcely noticed 
among the branches. 
It may stand thus for minutes, apparently mo- 
tionless, yet slowly turning the head, if neces- 
sary to keep the enemy in front. 
Silently the patient fisherman stands on the 
banks of some shallow stream or lake, or often 
wades into it to its knees to secure better fish- 
ing ground. With perhaps one stilt foot con- 
cealed in its plumage, apparently asleep, but 
with the bill always directed toward the game, 
the brightest of eyes detects the first fish darting 
in that direction. In lieu of more secluded 
ground, it may resort to the farmer’s carp pond. 
Should the owner object, swift wings are called 
into action, and three or four dead fish left on 
the ground, each stabbed through by the sharp 
bill, attest to the heron’s skill in spearing. 
One of the most wary of wild creatures, when 
wounded or imprisoned, it oftentimes proves a 
formidable adversary. The long neck and legs, 
broad wings, and powerful beak transform it 
from an embodiment of meekness and patience 
into one of extreme belligerence. An acquaint- 
ance who temporarily shut a wounded heron in 
the pig house, states that the proprietor of the 
establishment at once attempted to make the 
acquaintance of its strange guest, to receive one 
sharp thrust in the nose from the formidable 
bill. His pigship took the hint and retired; but 
with a curiosity akin to human, every other 
pig of the household in turn made the same at- 
tempt at familiarity, with like result. 
Save for rare visits to some carp pond, this 
bird does not encroach upon human rights, 
while the assistance it gives in ridding the fields 
of mice amply repays any mischief it may do 
as an angler. Yet between those who shoot for 
the mere love of killing and those in quest of 
fine feathers, this beautiful link with past ages 
seems threatened with extermination. 
Stoic philosopher among birds, may man 
learn ere it is too late that conquests over you 
are far more glorious made with the camera 
than with the gun; that light, as it comes 
through the lens is a more satisfactory pre- 
servative than lead supplemented with the milli- 
ner’s skill or the taxidermist’s art. 
Bessie L. PuTNAM. 

_ The original of the illustration has rather an 
interesting history. It was found near Har- 
monsburg, Pa., by Mr. Fred Jackson, of that 

GREAT BLUE HERON. 
Photo from life. 
place, and was at the time. evidently too sick 
from the effect of a gunshot wound to resist 
capture. It was kept on exhibition in a store 
there for a few days, but refused all food, and 
was finally taken in charge by the writer for the 
purpose of experiment. During the entire six 
weeks it was kept in captivity nothing would 
tempt it to eat of its own volition. Even live 
fish placed before it in water were disdained: It 
was first kept alive by means of beef tea and 
other liquid food, which it could be forced to 
swallow from a teaspoon; then as a convenience 
to the feeder a tin funnel was fitted to a long 
rubber tube, through which the bird was fed to 
the accompaniment of some rather vigorous 
wing protests. 
After it had recovered from its wound, with 
the exception of one eye, which was destroyed, 
it was finally released in a neighboring woods, 
where it lingered for a day or two, only in- 
dulging in an occasional short flight. 
Some months afterward a farmer several 
miles distant reported that a blue heron had 
been hanging about his place the greater part 
of the summer; that it seemed rather tame and 
was blind of one eye. Whether it was the same 
bird, why it tarried, and what its ultimate fate, 
the reader can conjecture quite as well as I. 
XENO W. PuTNAM. 

This season I killed a large blue heron which 
had two moccasin snakes in him, one of which 
was quite large, over two feet long, and fully 
an inch through; the other, a third smaller. [ 
am of the opinion that all:of our large herons 
eat young snakes, and that this is one reason of 
the remarkable scarcity of snakes in Florida; 
another is, that the alligators devour every 
snake they can catch. 
I have known the blue heron to swallow a 
grown mullet. This last season I killed a heron, 
and while carrying him, I noticed that he was 
unusually heavy, and, when I had got home and 
skinned him, I noticed that he was full from 
throat to stern, and proceeded to examine him. 
I found a fish, which was some four inches 
longer than the body of the bird, and fully half 
as heavy. How this bird captured the fish and 
raised him to swallow, I cannot conceive. But, 
since the foregoing experience, I came sud- 
denly on to a heron on the beach that was busily 
engaged with a catfish some nine inches long. 
I could have believed that he might have swal- 
lowed the cat, but for the great and formidable 
fins. He left the fish without ceremony, but I 
pulled on him and took his skin. Since that 
time I found a fin in the throat of one, so I am 
satisfied that they eat both mullet and catfish. 
The pelican will also take a full-grown mullet 
with ease. The cormorant will eat more fish 
than a person, and it is astonishing what large 
fish they swallow. 
Eagle Alighting on Water. 
A PRIVATE letter from Mr. T. E. Hofer, of 
Gardiner, Mont., better known to the older gen- 
eration of ForEsT AND STREAM readers as “Billy” 
Hofer, contains an interesting natural history 
note. Mr. Hofer was returning from Alaska on 
the steamer Farallone when the incident took 
place: 
“I must mention one thing new to me, and 
that is, seeing an eagle alight on the water and 
rise from it. We were having fun with the gulls, 
the method being to tie chunks of beef together 
with about four feet of string between the pieces, 
and then throw them over for the gulls. This 
was in Wrangel Narrows, Finally’ the eagles be- 
gan to come after the meat when the gulls were 
fighting over it. Of course the gulls usually got 
out of the way when the eagle dove, and the eagle 
got the meat. 
“Once we had two tough chunks about three 
inches square tied together and about five feet of 
strong line between them. Soon after we threw 
the meat over and while the gulls were having a 
battle, an eagle dove down among them and lit. 
in the water. He was there part of a minute, 
then rose with one chunk of meat and flew 
off, towing behind him a gull with the other 
piece of meat apparently jammed in its mouth. 
The eagle would tow the gull a short distance 
and then light on the water and start off again. 
I could not see whether the eagle had the meat 
in its bill or claws. 
“Tt was very interesting and laughable to us, 
and exciting to the other gulls, as well as to the 
gull that was being towed. All the time they 
were dropping astern and we could not tell what 
was happening or the outcome, but could see the 
eagle fly toward the timber. There were hun- 
dreds of gulls and it was impossible to tell what 
became of the one that had the meat. We could 
see that when the eagle and gull was both in the 
water there was some kind of a ‘scrap.’ Several 
times after that an eagle would try to get meat 
away from the gulls.” 
We recall many years ago on Lake Winni- 
piseogee, in New Hampshire, seeing a white- 
headed eagle sitting on the water. The bird 
held its head up and looked fearlessly toward the 
steamboat, which, however, did not pass very 
close to it. At the time we supposed the bird 
had been wounded. 
