220 THE MOOSE 



The marvels of the most wonderful river in his 

 world paled before the silent strength of the ever- 

 stirring strait, which seemed an ocean, and was the 

 Knik Arm, above Cook's Inlet. 



Many varieties of ducks paddled about close to 

 shore : jerkily-moving pintail, with the two great 

 tail-feathers which help foster the likeness this bird 

 bears to the pheasant ; scoters swimming in " open 

 order "; restless golden-eyes ; and solemn-looking 

 phalaropes. Picture a sandpiper riding the breast 

 of the waves, buoyant as a cork, lightsome as a bit 

 of thistledown, and you have the phalarope. Iri- 

 descent cormorants perched on rocks, puffins scur- 

 ried over the water, and the graceful Arctic tern, 

 first cousin to the swallows, gyrated in the air. 



On a crooked limb of a dead pine a bald-headed 

 eagle perched contemplatively. No movement of 

 the winged stragglers below escaped his brilliant, 

 straw-coloured eyes, and he listened to every faint 

 sound eagerly, dropping his gaze now and then to 

 the ground as the chopetty-chop of Moose wa's 

 hoofs striking one against the other sounded clear. 



The pure white head and neck, from which this 

 eagle has been all erroneously christened "bald," 

 was silhouetted against the wonderful blue of the 



