It may be that your first glimpse of this wader will be 4 
as he stands motionless on the bank of a slough where 
| billowy, white clouds and reflected barns make a picture a 
which rivals the land of canals: you may stumble on a pair 
as they wade knee, or rather ankle-deep on a shallow, sub- 
- merged tideflat, a half mile from shore; or you may pass 
one, as it bobs up and down from the waves of a steamer, 
_ balanced on a mass of giant kelp, far out on the salt waters. 
_ Wherever found, these giants add beauty to the picture, 
that even a Japanese artist could scarcely reproduce; _ 
although storks, ducks, herons, and other birds have been 
used by them in their artistic prints for ages. | 
| The odd combination of majesty and awkwardness of 
the heron is always charming. ihe general impression 1s_ 
that of a short-tailed, long-billed, long-necked, long-legged 
creature with blue-gray and black wings. With the dignity 
of an uncrowned king, he may stand motionless, while his 
level head is turned so that his keen eyes look you over, 
before he lifts his huge wings and shows you that he is 
master of the air, as well as of water and land. If you are 
able to see rapidly you will have noticed his white throat 
and forehead, his black and white streaked breast, and a 
so-called crest projecting backward from the top of his head. 
Tf it is the breeding season the crest of the male will also 
contain two long dangling plumes, which are lost, as they 
moult, in the late summer. | 
_ Their size, shape, and occupation mark these Tee off 
from all other Northwestern species except the big swamp- 
hunting cranes. Herons can be told from cranes because > 
they wear feathers on their heads and cranes are bare- 
headed as far down as their eyes and ears. The dull red, 
warty skin of the crane also has short black hair scattered 
upon it, as if to partly cover its ugliness. 
If some day, while on an outing, you see a oe pair 
of wings slowly flapping their way through the sky, followed 
_by a pair of long legs projecting backward into space, and 
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