46 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



as possible, he poked his head over the edge of the bank to 

 see this "thunderpump'' disappearing around the bend of 

 the river above. Disappointed and tired from his long 

 crawl, the boy dropped on the sod and began looking about 

 with no purpose in particular. Finally his eye rested on 

 a hollow snag, perhaps a hundred yards away, just in time 

 to see a wood duck enter the hollow. The boy had never 

 been told that the wood duck differs from most ducks in 

 that at times it not only lights in trees, but actually nests 

 in hollow trees, so of course he was interested. 



While he was watching this hole and wondering whether 

 it were possible to catch the duck while she was inside, as 

 he had sometimes been able to catch mother screech owl 

 or father redhead, the woodpecker, the duck flew out of 

 the hole with something in her mouth. This was stiU more 

 amazing to the boy. He had seen crows carry eggs in their 

 bill, but a duck — who ever heard of such a thing as a duck 

 carrying anything in its bill? And granting that ducks 

 do carry things in their bills, what could this duck have 

 found in a hollow tree? Surely ducks do not rob birds* 

 nests. 



But he did not have to speculate long, for this mother 

 of the forest, unaware of his presence, flew toward the high 

 bank on which the boy was resting, where the river made 

 a bend and the water was perfectly quiet — at least no 

 current was noticeable. As she came near, the boy was 

 astounded to see that she was carrying a baby duckling in 

 her mouth. Flying to within some ten feet of the water, 

 she dropped her burden and started back to the tree. The 

 baby duckling dropped into the water without injury and 

 began paddling round and round not more than fifty feet 

 from where the boy lay. In a few moments, the mother 



