2io Sporting Sketches 



energetic manner. Her toilet completed to her 

 liking, she gave her tail a couple of quick flirts from 

 side to side, then ran rapidly to the hole. 



At the edge of it she paused as though staring 

 within. It is possible she uttered some low call to 

 her babies her appearance suggested it, but I was 

 too far away to hear. Finally, she thrust her head 

 and neck into the hole and bent farther in until only 

 her tail was visible. Clearly she was reaching down 

 as far as she could. A moment later she straightened 

 up and trotted down the trunk. Held by her bill 

 was a duckling, which she released when still a 

 couple of yards from the ground. It remained 

 clinging to the bark exactly where she placed it. 

 As she turned about, a second duckling, and then a 

 third came out of the hole and began the descent. 

 By a series of sliding scrambles they reached the 

 spot where she stood and for the time made no 

 effort to go farther. She remained motionless, 

 seemingly intently watching the hole. Three more 

 youngsters soon followed the leaders. Sliding, 

 creeping, clinging, they covered three-fourths of the 

 trip then one missed its hold and fell to the 

 ground perhaps ten feet. 



In an instant she was after it, and for several 

 seconds she hovered pigeon-like above it. I feared 

 it had been injured, but presently it trotted after her 

 as she moved to the foot of the tree. Meanwhile 

 two more had left the hole, one reaching its mates 

 on the trunk, the other stopping halfway and ap- 

 parently hanging by a foot as though a claw had 

 got fouled in the bark. Presumably it made some 

 outcry which she could understand, for she ran up 



