"No. Ostrich plumes are a perfectly harmless decoration, for the bird earns his own and his master's living by growing them, without losing his life. They are the only kind of feathers that should ever be worn for ornament."

"Has the Great Blue Heron pretty feathers like a Bluebird?" asked Nat, who felt sorry for the fate of the Egrets, but did not like to show it and so tried to turn the subject.

"He is of a slate-gray color, which you might not think blue at all, and he too wears fine plumes, on his head, breast, and back. He is the largest bird of our hundred, being quite as tall as you are, Miss Dodo.

If you ever see one of these birds standing on the edge of the mill pond, you will never forget it; for it does not seem like an American bird, but rather like a visitor from strange lands. You may imagine it to be an Egyptian princess in disguise, waiting for a barge to come down the river, rowed by black slaves and conveying a prince all glittering with jewels, who is bringing a ring cut with mystic letters to break the spell--as such things are managed in fairy tales.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Blue Heron.]

"This Blue Heron, you will find, has no sweeter voice than his night-flying cousin, and, like the latter, nests in colonies in the trees; but afterward he travels about alone, as the Bittern does."

The Snowy Egret

(The Bonnet Martyr.)

Length about two feet.

Pure white all over, with a bunch of many long slender plumes growing between the shoulders, and shorter ones on the head and neck, in the nesting season. Feet and legs black. Toes yellow. Bill black and yellow.

A Citizen of temperate and tropical America.

A member of the guild of Wise Watchers, whose food and habits are the same as those of most other Herons, and who, if he does us no special good service, is perfectly innocent, and should never be butchered to make a woman's Easter holiday bonnet.

He has a larger brother called the American White Egret, as pure white as himself, but three feet or more instead of only two feet long, with the plumes hanging down over his tail instead of curled up, and none growing on his head.

The Great Blue Heron

(Or Blue Giant)

Length about four feet.

Plumage mostly slate-gray or bluish-ash, but black and white on the head and each side of the breast, and chestnut on the bend of the wing. A crest on the back of the head, a fringe of long feathers at the root of the neck in front, and another on the back in the breeding season.

Feathers on upper part of the legs reddish-brown, the bare scaly part black; bill yellow and greenish, with black on top; bare skin between it and the eyes blue.

A Citizen of North America.

A member of the guild of Wise Watchers who is wise enough to mind his own business and do n.o.body any harm, though he is not inclined to be sociable with House People. "I think we had best be going toward the house," said Olaf, glancing at the sky; "there's thunder-heads racing up." So the children, always ready for something new, started eagerly, and bewildered Olaf with questions about clouds and weather signs all the way home.

CHAPTER XXIX

UP THE RIVER

The thunder-clouds thickened until the whole sky was black; the tide rose in great waves, and the children were glad to be in the house. But the storm played so many strange pranks that they could not keep away from the windows, asking a hundred questions about things that cannot be put in a bird book.

"If the water keeps up on end, as it is doing now," said Olaf, "it will be a week before I dare take you over to Gull Island; but I was talking to a man from up the river yesterday, and he says the reed shallows are full of Rails--maybe you'd like to see them."

"Rails, what are they?" asked Nat. "I thought rails were the steel things that cars run on, or else some kind of fence bars."

"The Rails that Olaf speaks of are marsh birds," said the Doctor. "Some are about as big as Robins, and some are bigger still, shaped like long-legged, long-necked, bob-tailed Hens, with long curved beaks. In fact, some members of the family are called Marsh Hens from this resemblance. Olaf often guides gunners through the waterways to find these birds; he shall take you also, and perhaps you may find some old Marsh Wrens' nests at the same time."

The next morning was clear and warm, and the children tumbled out in their flannel bathing-suits to have a dip before breakfast. Rap, by rolling over and over on the sand, was in the water as soon as Nat; but they did not venture out far, even though the tide was low, contenting themselves by splashing about in shallow places.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Turnstone.]

Presently Nat spied something on the stony end of the bar that stretched out at the right of the beach, and pointed it out to Rap, who said: "They are some sort of birds: you had better get the gla.s.s, for even if we could go nearer to them, they would be sure to see us and skip." Then Nat brought the gla.s.s and they each took a peep.

"The bodies are like speckled Pullets', but the heads are like Pigeons'

and the legs are very thin," said Rap. "See! there is a different one, ever so much nearer over on this side, but I can't make him out very well. Here comes the Doctor, all ready to go in swimming; of course he can tell us."

"Those mottled birds with red legs are Turnstones," said the Doctor, after looking a moment. "They are wading sh.o.r.e birds, who run about the rock bars and sandy beaches, turning over small stones for the food that is hidden underneath. They very seldom come into bays like this, but keep more on the outer beaches. The other one, with black under parts and dark back finely speckled with yellow, is the Golden Plover, who often visits our beaches and marshy meadows."

"Do either of them ever nest up the river?" asked Dodo.

"No, indeed--you would have to travel many hundreds of miles to find the lonely Arctic beaches they both call home. They only come this way before they take the long fall journey to South America, where they winter; and in the spring-time they are usually in too great a hurry to stop."

"What do they look like very near by?" asked Dodo, who always wanted details, while the boys took a more general sportsmanlike interest.

[Ill.u.s.tration: American Golden Plover.]

"The Turnstone is very trim and pretty when seen close at hand, and from the pattern of the feathers is often called Calico-bird. The Golden Plover is darker and not so conspicuously marked, especially at this season."

The Turnstone

Length nine and a half inches.

In summer: Upper parts boldly variegated with black, white, and reddish-brown; tail black, with white base and tip. Under parts white, with large black marks on the breast. Bill and eyes black; feet orange, with a very small hind toe. In winter: Without the bright, reddish-brown markings, which are gray; and with not so much black, which is also duller.

A Citizen of North America, making its summer home only in the Arctic regions, but at other seasons travelling almost all over the world; we see it mostly when it is migrating, in spring and fall, along the sea-coast.

A member of the guild of Ground Gleaners, who gleans its food industriously on beaches, and is very fond of the eggs of horseshoe-crabs.

The American Golden Plover

Length ten and a half inches.

In summer: Upper parts blackish, all spangled with yellow of the tint of old gold, white forehead and a line over the eye. Under parts nearly all jet black, but sides of the breast pure white, and lining of the wings gray. Tail barred with white and gray. Bill and feet black. Only three toes, there being no sign of a hind toe, which almost all Plovers also lack. Bill shaped like a Pigeon's.

In winter: Without any pure black on the under parts, which are muddy whitish mixed and marbled with gray.

A Citizen of North America, whose summer home is with the Turnstone in the far North, and who travels to South America every fall and back again in the spring. We mostly see it in flocks on these journeys.