How Animals Talk 



the kink out of it; and the thrill of success ran 

 over me as I made out another and nearer group 

 of ducks. They were under the bank and the 

 bending grass, where I had completely overlooked 

 them. Every one was within reach; and every 

 one I could see had his head drawn in or tucked 

 away under his wing. 



Slowly my left hand stole toward them, creeping 

 forward in the deliberate fashion of a measuring- 

 worm, first the fingers stretched, then the knuckles 

 raised, then out with the fingers again. It would 

 have been very easy to stroke or to catch one of 

 the birds by a swift motion; but that was not 

 what I wanted, and would have instantly spoiled 

 the whole comedy. For the right effect, the hand 

 must rest upon a duck before he was aware of it, 

 so quietly that at first he would give his attention 

 to the hand itself, not to the thing it came from. 

 Then he would probably give it a questioning peck, 

 examine it curiously, and finally grow indifferent 

 to it, as other birds had done when I touched 

 them from hiding. But here my head was too 

 close to the ground, and my body too cramped 

 for easy action. As my hand reached the edge 

 of the bank, just over an unconscious duck, it 

 ran into a tuft of saw-grass, which cut my fingers 

 and rustled dangerously. To clear this obstruc- 

 tion I drew back slightly, lifted up a grain; and 



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