WILD PASTURES 



again reached the surface. The chase 

 was no longer exciting, and I turned my 

 attention to something else. Then he 

 swam out quite a little further into the 

 pond, preened his feathers carefully, 

 tucked his head under his wing and 

 went to sleep! 



Evidently he had decided that I was 

 eccentric, but harmless, and the best way 

 to escape my attentions would be to 

 leave me severely alone. 



And there you have it. I think the 

 wood duck is beautiful, but not very 

 bright. Yet it occurs to me that some 

 Sherlock Holmes of the woods may 

 prove, to the satisfaction of Dr. Watson 

 anyway, that he is preternaturally 

 clever, in that this one, though still 

 young, was keen enough to see that 

 from the first I had no evil intentions 

 toward him. 



150 



