Sylvia is isolated while living at the farmhouse; her only companion is a cow. Sylvia may be lonely, but she is not lonesome. She is much happier and lively here than in the crowded industrial town. At the farm, she spends all day outside and lives in unity with the environment that surrounds her. "They key to her vivacity is that she is utterly in harmony with nature" (Held 171). When the ornithologist aggressively whistles in her territory her equilibrium is upset. The man explains to the horror-stricken girl that he got lost while in pursuit of the white heron. "Thus when Jewett first introduces the ornithologist himself, she labels him "the enemy" (171). There seems to be something threatening in his very "boyness" that makes Sylvia fearful.
Her awe of the ornithologist may in part be caused by his being the first grow-up boy she has seen in her woodland isolation" (171). The hunter attempts to induce Sylvia to lead him to the wanted bird by offering her a reward of ten dollars. "Despite his attractive qualities,
Cited: Bogard, C.R., and J.Z. Schmidt. 1995. Legacies. Harcourt College Publishers, New York, 1380. Held, George. Short Story Criticism. Volume VI. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1990.