38 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



fast we did up the chores about the place, got on old Phoebe, 

 Brother John riding in front and carrying the gun, and I 

 behind, and started for the river. It was an uncommon 

 thing indeed for us to be allowed to go duck hunting on 

 horseback, but we had promised that if we might take H 

 horse we would get back for dinner and that brother would 

 plow in the afternoon. 



We reached the vicinity of Sellar's pond about nine 

 o'clock in the morning, tied old Phoebe to a tree, slipped 

 into the field, and began creeping on hands and knees 

 toward the pond. There was a high hill rising abruptly 

 above Sellar's pond on the side away from the river, and 

 we were on the brow of this hill. This gave us some ad- 

 vantage, for a bird sitting on the water a hundred feet 

 below is not so apt to notice objects on the top of the hill 

 as those that are somewhere near the level of the water. 

 There was a small clump of buck brush just on the brow of 

 this hill, and we crept up behind this. When we were able 

 to see the water below, we both gasped with pleasure and 

 excitement, for on the far side of the pond were five giant 

 white birds as big as small sheep. To our excited eyes 

 they looked as large as cows. 



Neither of us had ever seen any birds like these at any- 

 thing like close range before. They were snow white, all 

 but the quill feathers of the wings, which were black, mak- 

 ing a black bar across the side of the body. The body was 

 large and plump and the neck comparatively short. I say 

 comparatively, because it was not nearly so long as the 

 neck of a swan, the only water bird anywhere near their 

 size; but the thing about these birds that attracted our 

 attention most was their enormous bills. These bills were 

 nearly a foot long, and had a tremendous pouch under the 



