STRANGE CREATURES MET IN THE WATER 561 



flew down to the river it did not hesitate to alight in the 

 middle of the stream, having no previous experience to 

 teach it that all water is not shallow. The crow would 

 have drowned had not some boys in a canoe rescued the 

 very wet and much frightened pet. 



All of our native deer appear to be good swimmers 

 and fond of the water. The caribou, moose, and white- 

 tailed deer have frequently been photographed while 

 swimming, but these photographs show the poor ani- 

 mals plunging along in a desperate effort to escape. 

 A deer can, however, swim very quietly, with so small 

 a part of its head appearing above the water as to at- 

 tract little or no attention. 



I watched a doe swim across Big Tink Pond in broad 

 daylight while there were several boats upon the lake 

 occupied by fishermen, none of whom observed the ani- 

 mal. I was seated upon the pier with my field-glasses 

 in my hand, waiting for Uncle Sam, the bald eagle, to 

 come down to the lake, when I noticed something that 

 looked like an inverted basket floating on the water. 

 The next time I looked at it I was astonished to see 

 that it had traveled quite a distance, although there was 

 no current to the water and no wind blowing. I then 

 examined the object with my field-glasses and discovered 

 it to be the head of a doe, which was swimming deep 

 down in the water, with its ears laid back behind its 

 head and its eyes and nose just above the surface of the 

 lake. It swam noiselessly and rapidly to a point of 

 woods, where it stealthily and noiselessly emerged among 

 the rushes and, like a shadow, faded away in the under- 

 brush at the edge of the forest. 



