To Mountain Tarn 



does not take the hook. I have caught a 

 swallow, a swift even. The martin is a denizen 

 of the stream and knows its ways. Over the 

 trout it has the advantage of seeing the fisher. 



The habit is to feed against the wind, and 

 drifting swiftly back, to return on the beat. In 

 the windless air, the scouting is either way. 

 When it shares the same bank with the king- 

 fisher known on the stream, but not common 

 its bore is easily distinguished, in that it is level 

 at the bottom and not pointed for drainage. 



Among the sedges, just under the marguer- 

 ites and the ragged robin, is a water-hen. It 

 moves back a little that the blades may drop 

 together and form a screen. From its vantage, 

 it watches through a slit, betrayed by the sheen 

 of its coral bill. No creature can be so quiet and 

 secretive as a water-hen. Its nest of rough bank 

 grasses is placed among the reeds, not much 

 more than a foot above the surface. In the 

 ordinary stream channel that would be fatal : the 

 first spate would sweep it away. In the lade, 

 any excessive rainfall flows over the wall of the 

 dam. Doubtless the margin is sufficient. The 

 children of the lade seem to know its moods. 

 There is no stiffness in the reeds to support the 

 weight, apart from the buoyancy of the water. 

 The danger is a dry season, when the level sinks. 

 The structure rises from the bottom, and seems to 

 rest on the bent and doubled stalks. 



83 



