A Firm Seat 169 



The wind keeps the cottonwoods on the nearby island mov- 

 ing briskly enough so that their rustling can be heard plainly. 



Two paddlers go by in a white canoe bearing the name 

 Cupid. They are husky lads, stripped to the waist, with a 

 good stroke, and lots of power in their well-developed shoul- 

 ders. As they say about promising young politicians, they 

 will go far. They are headed for the lake and it may be that 

 the gunwales conceal a camping outfit. Flatties begin to 

 come: some trying to get out under their own sails, others 

 towed in a string by a powerboat, all in a hurry to join the 

 many others which seem to put out from nowhere the very 

 instant that a good breeze comes up. 



The discordant clatter of a kingfisher attracts my attention 

 as it hovers over one of the entrances to the cove. I count to 

 twenty-one at second intervals before it ceases hovering and 

 dives into the water below. A clump of cattails obscures 

 the splash so that I do not see the attack, but as the bird flies 

 away it carries nothing. A second bird joins it and they dash 

 at each other in mock combat, rising higher and higher, and 

 making harsh noises. Finally they level off and fly away. 



Bees. Do they live in the marsh? If not, where do they 

 come from? I see few except when the big honey crop is 

 being harvested. How does this enormous aggregation keep 

 busy at other times during the season? How far do bees 

 ordinarily forage? I must try to find out. Are these all wild 

 bees or are there a few hives left of the many that used to 

 be seen around the north end of the district? I see one bee 

 struggling in the water. It is near a plant stalk but seems 

 unable to gain a foothold. I pull it out and place it on a 

 blanket in the canoe where it dries in the wind and sun and 

 then flies away. I suppose that the flycatchers and the swal- 

 lows take many of them, and those which fall are soon picked 

 up by fish. 



The damsel flies come around again because they like the 

 warm and comparatively windless corner where the canoe is 



