their mother's wings, while the old gander 

 kept watch and ward in the darkness. For 

 Waptonk is more of a land bird than any of 

 the ducks. The forward set of his legs shows 

 that Nature intended him to walk as well as 

 swim ; and he will never sleep in the water if 

 he can find a safe and quiet spot to rest on 

 the shore. 



At sight of the familiar place the little 

 family that I had watched all day long sud- 

 denly stopped their hungry wandering and 

 came running in a close group, heads all up 

 and whistling, to tumble down the slope and 

 throw themselves with glad splashes into the 

 friendly water, which was all aglow now with 

 the splendors of the sunset. There they drank 

 and washed themselves, and played together 



in little races and scuffles, and ,. 



stopped their play to stretch their £& ^5S& 

 necks down to the oozy bottom f/h-r'-'-. '■''■:■'■<—. •• 

 for roots that they had overlooked, 



In Quest of 



./ 



or for earth and peb- Adm 

 bles to aid their diges- HfSf 

 tion. Then as the 



shadows lengthened uVMM 





