100 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



leave you to your own devices if we were on those 

 famous bird-rocks of Spitzbergen, Greenland, or 

 Lapland. Basket, hat, handkerchief, all would soon 

 be full ; you would simply be perplexed what to take 

 and what to leave. All shapes are there together. 

 There are some eggs as round as balls, some oval 

 and like those of our own poultry, some equally 

 pointed at both ends, and some very much enlarged 

 at one end and small at the other, almost like pears. 

 All these sea-birds' eggs are large, because the 

 young, on leaving the shell, must be strong enough 

 to follow their parents on the water and begin to 

 earn their own living. And then, what variety of 

 color and design! There are white eggs, yellowish 

 eggs, and red eggs. Some are dark green, imitating 

 the color of the waves that roar at the base of the 

 rock; others seem to borrow their pale blue from 

 the azure itself. These are diversified with areas of 

 different colors, like the maps in your geography; 

 those are painted with large spots and remind one 

 of the leopard's skin." 



"Oh, if I were only there!" sighed Emile. 



"As we are not there, let us leave the beautiful 

 rock-eggs to the birds and return to the duck. 



"It is in order to get back to these northern 

 countries, their paradise, that wild ducks pass over 

 us at the end of winter. The journey is chiefly made 

 at night, the day being reserved for rest among the 

 rushes. While the flock sleeps, each bird's head 

 under its wing, some members station themselves 

 at favorable points and, vigilant scouts, watch over 



