126 CTTRRITUCK MARSHES. 



of wind means a change of depth of water, it is shal- 

 lower to windward, the water being piled up to lee- 

 ward and the ducks, knowing this, fly against the 

 wind, all the shoal feeding birds do so. The 

 canvas-backs, red-heads, and broad-bills make little 

 account of the wind." 



" But," I answered, " this wind cannot as yet have 

 affected the depth of water." 



"No, but the birds know that it soon will, and 

 they are getting ready for to-morrow. There will 

 probably be a greater change than we expect, wild 

 animals know much more about the weather than 

 man can ever learn, they have a sort of instinct that 

 is given to them for their protection. I have always 

 observed that the ducks sought the windward side 

 of the marshes. If the wind is blowing from the 

 south, I make it a rule to go to the southward to 

 choose a stand, if from the west I look through the 

 western marshes and so on. Of course I am not al- 

 ways right." 



"No," I interrupted him to remark, "but we have 

 observed that the member who goes out with you 



I 



generally brings in the most birds, so the results 

 tend to demonstrate the theory." 



"Well, I have studied these marshes as thor- 

 oughly as I could ; there is not a tree that I have not 

 climbed, nor an island that I have not explored." 



"Can you see much from the trees when you do 

 climb them ?" I asked. 



"Yes. A little elevation will enable you to see 

 over the entire marsh, and many a pond hole have I 



