The San Francisco call., 1906-11-04
i: By William L. Finley

Photographs by Herman F. Bohlman
~ all the sights and sensations
that break into a bird-lover's
n experience the most lasting. per-
haps, IS when he first steps from
the quieter wood scenes and suddenly
energes into the very heart OF a busy
bird town. The eyes open as wide and
the pulse beats as fast as that OF a
bsckwoods boy when he first walks into
the very midst OF a modern three
ringed circus in full swing.
Fifteen miles below my home, IN the
heart OF the FIR forest. IS a village OF
two hundred houses. II has an area
ef about three acres. Every home is
e sRy-scrsper. Not single house Is less
than a hundred and thirty feet UP, and
some are a hundred and sixty feet high.
The inhabitants are feathered fishers.
They .hunt the waterways of The Co
lumbia and the Willamette for miles.
Each owns his own claim, and there's
never dispute as TO possession.
The Heron Village.
II takes the biggest reserve or nerve
and muscle to reach this village. but
one may sit on the wooded hillsides far
below and watch life there in full
swing From two to FIVE brush heap
houses. tie size OF washtub. are care
fully balanced and securely fastened in
the. top limbs Of each tree. Gaunt,
iong-legged citizens stand about the
eiry door7ways and gossip IN hoarse
croaSs. Residents are continually
coming and going. some tapping in
from the feeding ground with claws full
Of fish and frogs. others sweeping down
the avenues between the pointed FRS
with departing. cultural squawk
One Of the most risky and perilous
pieces OF work ever done in the tree
top was accomplished here in the tall
frs in getting the nest and eggs Of
the great blue heron (Ardea herodias).
The photographer had selected the most
'elimbable-looking~ stronghold in the
sheronry. where the nearest nest was
hundred and thirty feet UP. But after
the long. arduous ascent he found that
. both nests contained newly Matched
birds Just fifteen feet away in the
. branches OF an adjoining tree was a
rest containing four eggs. To get this
the photographer strapped himself
carefully in the branches and wrapped
his legs about the trunk. With a rope
he lassoed the broken end of a limb
on the adjoining tree and by slipping
tire cord back and forth worked the
rope up TO the trunk slow, steady
pull and the tops Of the trees bent
closer together. The tension became
stronger and stronger between the two
trees until at four feet it looked like a
huge catapult that might suddenly be
sprung and shoot the climber into
space. In another instant an aerial
bridge was formed in the tree-top.
while the photographer secured his
prize.
The herouries in the Oregon forests
are pretty we'll protected from the raids
OF bird photographer by reason Of
tnsir great height from the ground. For
several years we hunted for a colony
Of these birds where q good series OF
photographs could be taken. We never
found one IN Oregon, put we did dis
cover one in California last summer.
Down in the swamp regions at the
Tower end Of San Francisco Bay is a
narrow, wooded belt reaching out about
a mile and it is about two hundred
yards IN width. When we approached
this thicket we saw the trees were well
loaded with nests. We skirted the edge
OF the belt, looking for an entrance,
but TO our surprise, each place we tried
was barred with a perfect mass Of