''A White Heron'' begins one June evening near the coast of Maine. As the sun sets, nine-year-old Sylvia drives a cow home. This girl has no other friends and she really enjoys these walks with the cow. However, it took her an unusually long time to find the cow that night and she hopes that Mrs. Tilley, her grandmother, does not worry about her. But her grandmother knows that she likes walking in the woods, so she won't worry. Tonight the little girl meets a stranger in the woods and asks her for directions because he was lost. She invites him home for the night and he is happy to learn that Sylvia is interested in birds and confesses that he is looking for a certain white heron. He offers Sylvia ten dollars if she will show the hunter where the heron is. The next day they go out looking for the bird but don't find it. They call it a night and go home. Sylvia leaves early the next morning and climbs a large pine tree where she observes the white herons' nest. When she returns home she tells the hunter that she is not sure where the nest is and the hunter leaves disappointed. Sylvia, nine years old, is a little girl who lives in the woods. Her name, ''Sylvia'' and her nickname, ''Sylvy'', come from the Latin silva meaning "wood" or "forest". Sylvia lives in the woods with her grandmother Tilley and rarely sees anyone else. He remembers when he lived in the city but doesn't want to go back. However, when she meets an older hunter, she enjoys being with another human and isn't sure what to do with the mixed emotions she begins to feel. He offers to give her money in exchange for giving up the white heron's nesting site. She is the only person who can give him what he needs. What he has to think about though is the betrayal of his relationship with nature and whether it's worth it or not. In the end he does not reveal the heron's nesting place. In the story you hear the hunter whistle before you even see him appear. He has a gun and a bag full of dead birds with him. For a living it fills the birds and they like it very much.