A white heron.

My partner purchased a hardback collection of Great American Short Stories a while ago which I've finally got around to dipping in to. I'd never heard of Sarah Orne Jewett until I spotted this story of hers, A White Heron, in the collection. It's a rural tale of a young girl, Sylvia, living with her grandmother in their isolated home.

Their tranquil existence is enlivened by the appearance of a bird hunter looking to shoot rare birds to be stuffed for his collection. He offers a lot of money (comparatively speaking) for information that will allow him to shoot a particular white heron he had briefly spotted flying by and Sylvia must decide whether to take the man's money or preserve the heron's life. I loved this story which has early echoes of the natural destruction that has become so endemic in our own time. It is also an outdoorsy tale with a capable girl at its centre, one who isn't confined indoors while her brothers run free. Despite being first published well over a century ago, A White Heron did not feel dated and I think it would appeal just as much to modern readers as it did to those in the 1880s.