WILD PASTURES 



as fast as he could. He did nothing of 

 the sort. He just edged along down the 

 shore, evidently hoping that I was light- 

 minded, and would forget all about him 

 in a minute or two if let alone. But I 

 kept at it until I was so near I could see 

 every one of his already handsome 

 feathers and note the coloring of those 

 parts which had not yet reached the 

 beauty of maturity. I could see the yel- 

 low rim of his eye, and still he swam 

 east and swam west but made no real 

 move to escape. 



Two things I wished to learn from 

 my wood duck. One was how much 

 general intelligence and real quickness 

 of wit he would show in escaping. The 

 other was how he carried his wings un- 

 der water if, by any fortunate chance, I 

 should be able to see him swim after he 

 went down to escape me. But at first 

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