Sylvia: A young, isolated girl who lives in the woods with her grandmother and earns money as a hired girl. She encounters a famous ornithologist looking for a rare species of heron.
The Ornithologist: A wise, kind man who is dedicated to studying birds. He is determined to find and draw a white heron.
Sylvia's Grandmother: A stern, practical woman who is Sylvia's primary caregiver. She is not interested in nature or art and is initially skeptical of the ornithologist's motives.
These three main characters drive the narrative and their interactions explore themes of nature, artistic creation, and the struggle between responsibility and personal desires.