A young girl who was named Sylvia have came from the city to live in the woods with her grandmother; Mrs. Tilley. Sylvia have been living with her grandmother for nearly as year, learning to adapt to country ways. She helped the old woman by taking over some of the more physical chores, such as finding Mistress Moolly, the cow, each evening in the fields where she grazes and bringing her home. By means of this and other tasks, along with her explorations in the forest, Sylvia has become a country girl who dearly loves her new home. She has taken to it easily and immerses herself in her new life completely, as evidenced by the description of her journey home each evening with the cow. “…but their feet were familiar with the path, and it was no matter whether their eyes could see it or not.” One evening she was approached by a hunter, who was in the area looking for birds to shoot and preserve for his collection. This young man was searching in particular for the rare white heron and he was sure that it made its nest in the vicinity. He accompanied Sylvia on her way with hopes of spending the night at her grandmother’s house. Once he had received this invitation, he made himself at home, and after they eat, he said that he will give a sum of money to anyone who can lead him to the white heron. The next day, Sylvia accompanied the hunter into the forest as he searched for the bird’s nest, but he didn’t found it. In the evening, the girl can’t sleep so she decided to go out and looked for the bird by herself so that she can be sure of showing the hunter its exact location when he awakes. She decided to climb the tallest tree in the forest so that she can see the entire countryside, and she found the heron, just as she had thought she would. But Sylvia was so affected by her tree-top observation of the heron and other wildlife that she couldn’t brought her to disclose the heron’s location to the hunter after all, despite his entreaties. Sylvia knows that she would be awarded much-needed money for directing him to the heron, but she decided that she couldn’t play any part in bringing about the bird’s death. The hunter eventually departs without his prize.
