My Boyhood and Youth 



before they can get fairly on the wing. Their 

 narrow, finHke wings are very small as compared 

 with the weight of the body and are evidently 

 made for flying through water as well as through 

 the air, and it is by means of their swift flight 

 through the water and the swiftness of the blow 

 they strike with their long, spear-like bills that 

 they are able to capture the fishes on which 

 they feed. I ran down the meadow with the 

 gun, got into my boat, and pursued that poor 

 winter-bound straggler. Of course he dived 

 again and again, but had to come up to breathe, 

 and I at length got a quick shot at his head and 

 slightly wounded or stunned him, caught him, 

 and ran proudly back to the house with my 

 prize. I carried him in my arms ; he did n't 

 struggle to get away or offer to strike me, and 

 when I put him on the floor in front of the 

 kitchen stove, he just rested quietly on his 

 belly as noiseless and motionless as if he were a 

 stuffed specimen on a shelf, held his neck erect, 

 gave no sign of suffering from any wound, and 

 though he was motionless, his small black eyes 

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