8 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



our modern guns which have no cap to flash. These birds 

 do not even try to fly when hunted. In fact it is commonly 

 believed that they can not fly. Some of the old hunters 

 claim that they travel only by swimming or by waddling 

 across country from pond to pond or from stream to 

 stream. Father said he knew better than this because, in 

 the early days of the country when they were much more 

 abundant, he had seen them fly and was aware that they 

 are very rapid flyers. They migrate the same as other 

 birds do, and it is preposterous to suppose that a bird 

 would travel hundreds of miles <every year by swimming. 

 He said that he had seen them rise into the air and fly 

 away, starting from some bank or high place, and that 

 they always started to fly directly into the teeth of the 

 wind. He believed that on still days they can not rise. 

 These birds are rather common throughout the Mississippi 

 valley, often spending the winter where there is open 

 water on the ponds or along the shores of the rivers. 



In general appearance they look much like small ducks. 

 I remember shooting one on the old crabapple pond one 

 June. It was a beautiful bird, but I was surprized at 

 its small size. These birds build their nests on floating 

 vegetation found at the edge of a pond or along the 

 shore of a stream and lead the little ones into the water 

 when they are only a few hours old. They are perfectly 

 harmless, feeding on snails, crawfish, etc., with grass and 

 such other food as they can pick up about the ponds to sup- 

 plement their menu. They are our most common represen- 

 tative of those birds whose wings are too small for ordi- 

 nary flight, and so have adapte'd themselves to swimming 

 and diving. 



The old settlers claimed they could dive rapidly enough 



