the nest to feed her
hungry little ones.

It was partly to see these little herons, the thought of which had
fascinated me ever since I had seen Quoskh taking home what I thought,
at first glance, was a rag doll for them to play with, and partly to
find out more of Quoskh's hunting habits by seeing what he brought home,
that led me at last to undertake the difficult task of climbing the huge
tree to the nest. One day when the mother had brought home some unknown
small animal--a mink, I thought--I came suddenly out of my hiding and
crossed over to the nest. It had always fascinated me. Under it, at
twilight, I had heard the mother heron croaking softly to her little
ones--a husky lullaby, but sweet enough to them--and then, as I paddled
away, I would see the nest dark against the sunset with Mother Quoskh
standing over it, a tall, graceful silhouette against the glory of
twilight, keeping sentinel watch over her little ones. Now I would solve
the mystery of the high nest by looking into it.

The mother, alarmed by my sudden appearance,--she had no idea that she
had been watched,--shot silently away, hoping I would not notice her
home through the dense screen of branches. I climbed up with difficulty;
but not till I was within ten feet could I make out the mass of sticks
above me. The surroundings were getting filthy and evil-smelling by this
time; for Quoskh teaches the young herons to keep their nest perfectly
clean by throwing all refuse over the sides of the great home. A dozen
times I had watched the mother birds of the colony push their little
ones to the edge of the nest to teach them this rule of cleanliness, so
different from most other birds.

As I hesitated about pushing through the filth-laden branches, something
bright on the edge of the nest caught my attention. It was a young
heron's eye looking down at me over a long bill, watching my approach
with a keenness that was but thinly disguised by the half-drawn eyelids.
I had to go round the tree at this point for a standing on a larger
branch; and when I looked up, there was another eye watching down over
another long bill. So, however I turned, they watched me closely getting
nearer and nearer, till I reached up my hand to touch the nest. Then
there was a harsh croak. Three long necks reached down suddenly over the
edge of the nest on the side where I was; three long bills opened wide
just over my head; and three young herons grew suddenly seasick, as if