The river is shallow. At low tide sandbars and oyster-beds occupy much of its breadth; and even when it looked full, a great blue heron would very likely be wading in the middle of it. That was a sight to which I had grown accustomed in Florida, where this bird, familiarly known as the major, is apparently ubiquitous. Too big to be easily hidden, it is also, as a general thing, too wary to be approached within gunshot.