JOHNNIE GREENHEAD 65 



the mother duck rejoined the family. Then keeping under 

 the shadow of the bank, she swam around the bend out of 

 sight and quietly resumed feeding. 



But hawks were not the only enemies against whom these 

 mallards had to contend. One day the mother duck 

 swam out into the deep water and part of the babies fol- 

 lowed her. Suddenly there was a lurch and a splash and 

 one of the ducklings disappeared down the throat of a 

 mighty pickerel who had been sleeping in the deep below. 

 She got her family into the shallows among the reeds 

 and rushes as quickly as possible. Not for three weeks 

 did she again dare to cross this deep, and by that time the 

 ducklings were too large for a fish to eat. 



Those weeks while the ducklings were small enough to 

 be eaten by large fish were full of anxiety to the mallard 

 family. So long as they remained concealed in the rushes 

 they were safe from hawks; but several times a wandering 

 coyote came near, and the sure danger that could be seen 

 caused them to forget the danger that was not seen and 

 the flock scurried into the middle of the lake. This was 

 precisely what the old hawk was looking for; and twice 

 she carried away one of the ducklings, and a fish accounted 

 for another. 



The nights were even more to be dreaded. It was unsafe 

 for the flock to roost in the middle of the lake, for the 

 large fish are much more active at night than by day. On 

 the other hand several coons and mink hunted the shores 

 of the lake every night, and every one of these animals liked 

 nothing better than duck, young or old, and would not 

 hesitate to swim half way across the lake if need be to 

 secure it. Had it not been that there were a dozen other 

 families of ducks on the shore of the same lake, and had 



