SWAMP WHITE-OAK BEND. 109 



microscope to identify. But if wanting in readily vis- 

 ible animal life, it was full of sound. The steady drain- 

 ing off of the water caused a constant sibilant snapping 

 as the surface cracked and bubbled. 



"With not a spider even darting over the mud, and no 

 subterranean creature peeping above it, it would have 

 been monotonous waiting for the tide to turn, had not 

 a cat-bird kindly entertained me the while. He seemed 

 strangely out of place. Why he should have left the 

 briers on the hill-side and wandered thither is hard to 

 imagine, for the relative abundance of food in the two 

 localities cannot vary materially. At all events, here 

 he was, and with the agility of a marsh-wren, clung to 

 the steins of pickerel- weed and wild-rice, and then vent- 

 uring upon the drier edge of the mud flat, hopped 

 with that teetering of the tail that is a feature of sand- 

 pipers and water-thrushes. Do all birds that come here 

 from the uplands walk in such a manner, as though 

 they caught the trick from the incessant seesaw of the 

 rippling waters ? I was perfectly quiet, and presently 

 the cat-bird flew to the bow of the boat, and sitting 

 there chirped vigorously as he watched me, lying full 

 length in the bottom of the boat. That chirp was a 

 call to his mate, I took it, and presently she came at 

 least another cat-bird came and she too eyed me for a 

 moment intently. I could not be more sure of her 

 meaning had I perfect knowledge of a cat-bird's language. 

 She told her mate that I might prove dangerous, and 

 advised his quickly retreating. He was not so easily 

 persuaded, and even dared hop a few paces nearer, she 

 scolding vigorously all the while. I remained motion- 



