n6 SURREY SCENES 



flashing alternately black and white as they faced or 

 crossed the blazing sunlight, was a sight not to be 

 forgotten. At such times the head is thrown back in a 

 noble poise, the feet extended like a train far beyond 

 the tail, and the broad flight-feathers of the wing stand 

 out clear and distinct against the sky. Moving towards 

 the lake, in order to allow the herons to return to their 

 nests, we flushed a pair of wild-drakes from a shallow 

 ditch, and almost at the same moment a lame duck 

 shuffled distressfully from the same spot, and moved 

 off slowly, with apparent difficulty, in a direction 

 parallel to the lake. The counterfeit was so remark- 

 able, that had we not caught a glimpe of a small black 

 object dashing into the marsh which lay a few feet from 

 the drain on the opposite side to the course taken by 

 the duck, no suspicion as to the reality of her disable- 

 ment would have occurred. Meanwhile, the old bird 

 invited pursuit, lying down, as if unable to move 

 further ; and, resolved to see the end of so finished and 

 courageous a piece of acting, we accepted the invitation 

 and gave chase. For twenty yards or more the bird 

 shuffled and stumbled through the rhododendron- 

 bushes, until she made for the lake-side, where the 

 ground was more open. There, running fast, with her 

 head up and discarding all pretence of lameness, for 

 another twenty yards, she took wing, and flew slowly 

 just before us, at about three feet from the ground, 

 until she reached the limit of the enclosure, when, 

 uttering a derisive quack, she rose swiftly above the 

 trees and flew out over the lake. Anxious to see the 



