126 Up in the Morning Early. 



pass on to a marshy 



very 



As we pass on we meet a shepherd driving his charges 



out thus 

 early to pas- 

 ture, whist- 

 ling as he 

 goes, his 

 face shining 

 from hardly 

 yet effaced 

 ablut i ons ; 

 and, turning 

 round, we 

 deserted, the resort 

 of many ducks, the 

 sound of our steps 

 setting the inhabi- 

 tants to flight, with 

 a peculiar cry and 

 clangour as they dash 

 forth from their fav- 

 ourite resting-places. 

 As we pass on 

 we skirt the edge 

 of a slope of waste 

 land running down 

 towards the sea ; and 

 coming to us across 

 it are the plaintive 

 cries pees- wee t, 

 pees-weet of lap- 

 wings. As we ad- 

 vance, we see them 

 circling round certain 

 points as they monotonously repeat their Touching cry 



MALLARD IN FLIGHT. 



