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“Were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been,-who can tell?”

This line at the end of the story sums up the entire question that Sylvia must answer when deciding on whether to tell the hunter about the heron. At the end of the story, the narrator suggests that no one can really say which is more valuable, human relationships or solitary time in nature. The rhetorical question suggests this is an unanswerable comparison because Sylvia can never truly know what a friendship with the hunter would have been like.

“Alas, if the great wave of human interest which flooded for the first time this dull little life should sweep away the satisfactions of an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest!”

In these lines, Sylvia runs through the forest, intent on getting to the majestic pine tree so she can climb it. Driven by her new feelings of wanting to please the hunter, she uses her knowledge of the forest and her animal-like running and climbing skills to make her way there. The narrator offers a judgement as Sylvia dashes through the woods, implying that it would be a shame if Sylvia gave up her connection to the forest because of her first crush.

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