2 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



to the swimmers and that they were feeding on plant roots 

 and stems, and whatever else they could find under the 

 water; that God had made a great family of swimmers 

 which live and play in the water. She said they were espe- 

 cially fitted for this by the fact that they have a large 

 amount of fat on their bodies under the feathers and skin, 

 and that this keeps them from feeling the cold. This old 

 goose was simply standing on her head while she chewed 

 off some choice morsel of food under the water. She then 

 explained that the swimmers have not only the ordinary 

 feathers that all birds have but also a thick coat of down 

 next to the skin, so that even though the outside feathers 

 get wet this down keeps the water from getting to the skin. 

 She told me that they also have a great deal of oil on their 

 feathers and that this oil keeps the feathers from getting 

 wet, as the feathers of a chicken do. 



I was interested at once and began to ask questions 

 about these swimmers, and learned that they all have 

 Tvebbed feet, altho the web is not the same on all of 

 the different kinds. Moreover, many of them have a 

 fcroad, flat bill, so that when feeding they can gather up 

 a great mouthful of whatever they happen to find, and 

 by sucking the water back and forth through this bill they 

 can wash clean whatever is eatable before swallowing it. 

 I learned that some of the swimmers have very small 

 wings and spend nearly all of their time in the water, 

 and can fly only when the wind is right. Still others have 

 formed such a love for the water that they do not pretend 

 to fly, and in consequence their wings have grown so small 

 and weak that they could not fly if they tried. These 

 birds of course live only on the shores of some large body of 

 water, but none of them in our country. The swimmers 

 are geese, ducks, swans, pelicans, sea-gulls, loons, etc. 



