Music of the Wild 



in migration is a distinctive note, but it gives small 

 idea of tlie vocal power he displays Avhen he mar- 

 shals his followers on the lakes and rivers of 

 Canada. 



"Coidv, conk, conk!" The cry of the sheitpoke 



is com2)()sed of enlivening notes, and rings with the 



The delight of boundless freedom. Coming miexpect- 



Cryofthe ^,|i^.^ j^ j^^ ^,, j,.^^, ^j^g l^.j^.^.^ starthng. The sheit- 



Sheitpoke • . . . i * i i i ■ i ■ i i 



poke IS ol the lieron fannly, and he is a bu'd that 

 deserves symi^atlietic admiration, — he attends liis 

 own affairs so (Uligently and api)ears so absorbed 

 in them. He goes about his business in such a 

 "hammer and tongs" style that tlie lieart warms to 

 his inde])endence. Kolling his jolly caU, he comes 

 slashing and sphishing throngli nmck and M'ater, 

 quite as frecjuently for miscliief as in search of 

 food — the veriest ro^^•dy in the marsh. Soiled and 

 dripping, he readies a solid footing with a look 

 half apologetic, half deliant, exactly as if he were 

 saying, "Had a lot of fun doing that; but why in 

 the world do you suppose I did it?" 



He is a warm-hearted, warm-headed, impulsive 

 roustabout, yet at the first suspicious note intro- 

 duced into his paradise he can slink like a cuckoo. 

 His generous crest flattens until it appears pasted 

 down; his oily, hairlike plumage hugs his body, 

 and his eyes snap and pop. A frightened sheit- 

 jjoke trying to decide in which direction to flee an 

 unknown danger is an amusing spectacle. He is 



406 



