188 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



Every time a wee enquiring head was thrust 

 from beneath her plumage she gently pushed it 

 back again with her bill, all the while talking to 

 the uneasy seeker after knowledge in soft, per- 

 suasive notes. 



Her mate kept calling to her from a distance, 

 and she answered him while she sat in her loud 

 toodle, toodle, laloodle note, which sounded as if 

 it had come from a bird many times her size 

 after the small sweet voice in which she had 

 talked to her baby chicks. 



A strange thing about the species is that 

 although the chicks will readily swim from small 

 islands upon which they have been hatched, and 

 adult birds can easily do so, they do not often 

 take to the water. When the young ones are 

 making a voyage in response to maternal wishes, 

 instead of joining them, as one would naturally 

 expect such a devoted parent to do, she flutters 

 overhead, and contents herself with giving advice 

 and encouragement to the youthful adventurers 

 below. 



Another species which never fails to arrest 

 the attention of the visitor is the reed bunting, 

 or the reed sparrow, as it is more generally called. 

 The black head and conspicuous white collar of 

 the male give him a "nigger-in-clean-linen" ap- 

 pearance, which he shows off to the greatest 

 advantage when he is not undertaking his share 



