File:Stories about birds of land and water (1874) (14748551634).jpg

Identifier: storiesaboutbird00kirb (find matches)
Title: Stories about birds of land and water
Year: 1874 (1870s)
Authors: Kirby, Mary, 1817-1893 Kirby, Elizabeth, 1823-1873
Subjects: Birds -- Juvenile literature
Publisher: Hartford (Conn.) : American Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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TlIK PEACOCK HERO.\, OR SUN BITTEK.N. they swallow it alive, or, if it is large, beat it on the water or shake it untilit is dead. They do not move until the tide drives them back, and even thenremain until the water reaches their body. They roost on trees, but rarely alight on the same tree, as if they wereafraid of being discovered by their great enemy, man. Often, while the flock are asleep during the day, two or more heronsstand, with outstretched necks, acting the part of sentinels. If there isa splash in the water, as some great fish, such as the shark, giv^es chaseto another fish, the heron sentinels give a start, and seem much alarmed.
Text Appearing After Image:
GKUUP OF HERO.NS. STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. Or if there comes the sound of oars, and a boat comes down the stream, itcauses the utmost terror. Yet few people are known to molest them. They place their nests among the tall reeds, at some distance one fromthe other, and only a few feet above the high water mark. The nest is large,and made of sticks, without any lining, and is quite flat. The eggs haverather a thick shell, and are of a light blue green colour. Both birds sit onthe eggs, which take a month to hatch. Before we leave this bird we must sa) a few words about the night heronsthat live in the cedar swamps. The cedar swamp is perhaps the most dismal spot you can imagine.The ground underfoot is like a bog, covered with great bushy limbs and logsof fallen trees. And the trunks of the cedars grow side by side to the heightof two hundred feet, and so close together that a man cannot push himselfbetween. And there are no branches, except at the top, where the treesare all matted together,

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