WOOD DUCKS AND BLOODROOT. 125 



recall ever before having seen more than two 

 flying together. Before they were out of sight a 

 sparrow hawk glided over, and presently a flock 

 of ten or fifteen cedar birds shot past through the 

 trees as though bound for the Mississippi. The 

 oaks seemed to be a good point of observation 

 even if the interesting strangers did not alight. 

 A rushing and rustling of wings, and a queer 

 quacking call marked the swift passage of a 

 duck. Instead of going by, this visitor dropped 

 into the reedy pool in front of me. I could see 

 a part of the pond, the rest was screened by 

 button -ball bushes. Long minutes passed. 

 Should I move, creep up to the pond, or around 

 the kame to its further slope ? Something moved 

 on the water beyond the bushes. A dark form 

 two dark forms were winding in and out 

 among the stems and coming towards me. 



I raised my glass to my eyes and kept it there 

 without a motion during what followed. Two 

 ducks, one following the -other, were coming 

 slowly through the bushes which grew in the 

 water at the end of the pond. From the 

 bushes a thread of water wound in and out 

 among the grass tussocks and passed under the 

 wall within twenty short paces of me. The ducks 

 entered this little brook ; the sunlight fell directly 

 upon them. They were wood ducks, the most 

 gorgeous of our waterfowl. Every feather shone 



