6 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



he might be able to get within throwing distance of this 

 duck. Any one who knows anything about wild ducks 

 knows that no duck would remain on the pond and allow 

 a boy to come near enough to kill it with a stone, but any 

 one who knows anything about boys also knows that boy 

 would nevertheless make the attempt. 



This bird remained about the middle of the pond and 

 seemed to pay very little attention to us. The pond was 

 not more than a hundred yards wide at the widest place 

 so of course it was no trouble to get within throwing dis- 

 tance. John began throwing stones, but the bird paid no 

 attention to him whatever except that every time a stone 

 came so near that there was danger of being hit he would 

 dive. Frequently the stone struck the place where this 

 bird had been sitting only an instant before, but he was 

 never there when the stone arrived. Presently he would 

 come up fifty or a hundred feet away and was again ready 

 to play his part in the game. After we had all thrown till 

 our arms were completely tired, we decided to wade after 

 this bird. My brother had decided by this time what the 

 bird was, and said it was a "didipper." 



Presently one of the neighbors came by and joined in the 

 chase. We carried clubs and rocks and were determined 

 that we would keep this bird under the water until he was 

 so exhausted for breath that we would be able to catch him. 

 For fully two hours we chased hither and thither, back 

 and forth across the pond. Whenever the bird appeared 

 we tried to surround him so that he could not dive past 

 us. Then we would throw clubs and rocks, but even tho 

 we were not more than fifteen or twenty feet away no one 

 could throw quickly enough to hit this wonderful diver. 



Once he dived straight into my legs, but before I could 



