268 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



reality and homely pathos to the description of 

 Mr. Caxton's mild and lovable character he intro- 

 duced it into his novel. A friend of the writer 

 owned a duck far more worthy of admiration than 

 Bulwer's immortal bird. This was not a domestic 

 duck, but a teal, which he brought down with his 

 gun slightly wounded in the wing, and feeling all 

 at once a strange compassion for it, he tied it up 

 in a handkerchief and carried it to his home in the 

 suburbs of a large town. The captive was turned 

 into a courtyard and its wants attended to ; it 

 soon grew accustomed to its new mode of existence, 

 and furthermore became strongly attached to all 

 the members of the family, seeking for them in the 

 rooms when it felt lonely, and always exhibiting 

 distress of mind and anger in the presence of 

 strangers. When a cat or dog was fondled in its 

 presence it would run to the spot, administer a few 

 vindictive blows to the animal with its soft bill, 

 and solicit a caress for itself. The most curious 

 thing in its history was that it took a special liking 

 to its captor, and singled him out for its most 

 marked attentions. When he went away to business 

 in the morning the teal would accompany him to 

 the street door to see him off, returning afterwards 

 contentedly to the yard ; and in the afternoon it 

 would again repair to the door, always left open, 

 and standing composedly on the middle of the 

 step wait its master's return — for this teal took 

 count of time. If, while it stood there watching 

 the road, a stranger came in, it would open its 



