Mrs. Tilley, Sylvia's grandmother, offers the young man a bed for the night and also a simple meal. The young man says he is hunting a rare white heron because he wants to kill it and add it to his collection of birds. The hunter is excited to learn that Sylvia knows the woods and about birds because he thinks Sylvia will help him find the bird.But Sylvia recognizes the description of the bird as one she has watched and dreamed about. The man offers Sylvia ten dollars (a large sum for a poor family like Sylvia's) if she will show him the heron’s nest. Thus Sylvia, who also forms an emotional attachment to the young man, must eventually choose between pleasing the young man (and getting the $10) or protecting the white heron.