348 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[September, 
Tim’s Kit. 
r A big heart often lies under a rough exterior. Our old¬ 
er readers will remember the incident that occurred be¬ 
fore the door of the American Agriculturist office, when 
a ragged boot-black offered a bite from his peach to a 
poor comrade, and seeing him take a small bite, ex¬ 
claimed, “Bite bigger Billy.” — The Detroit “Free 
Press ” relates an incident that goes right to every heart. 
“Limping Tim” came among the “ shiners ” and news- 
but big-hearted urchins. Did God ever make a heart 
which would not respond if the right chord was touched. 
Our Native Water-Fowl. 
Some months ago, we gave you a picture of some in¬ 
teresting land birds, and we now give an engraving of 
two of our most beautiful water-fowls, selecting those 
that are known in all parts of the country. While birds 
of different kinds have many things in common—such as 
some others, dive for their food, but live upon what they 
can find upon the margins of the waters they visit. These 
Teals are among the most common of our water-fowls, 
and though generally called “ ducks,” they differ from 
the true ducks, not only in structure, but in habits. The 
most conspicuous bird in the picture, the one at the left, 
and reaching forward, is the male of the Blue-winged 
Teal, and is readily known by the white mark like a 
crescent in front of the eye, as well as by the blue feathers 
upon its wings. The female, shown just below, has the 
boys around the P. O. and quietly said: “ Boys, I want to 
sell my kit. Here’s two brushes, a hull box of blacking, 
a good stout box, all for two shillin’s.”-“ Goin’ away, 
Tim?” asked a comrade.-“Not ’zactly, boys, but I 
want a quarter the awfullest kind just now.”-“ Goin’ 
on a’scursion?” asked another.-“Not to-day, but I 
must have a quarter,” he answered.-One of the lads 
passed over the change and took the kit, and Tim walked 
straight to the counting-room of a daily paper, put down 
the money, and said : “I guess I can write if you’ll give 
me a pencil.” With slow-moving fingers lie wrote a 
death notice. It went into the paper almost as he wrote 
it, but you might not have seen it. He wrote: 
“Died—Litul Ted—of scarlet fever; aiged three yeres. 
Funeral to-morrer, gon up to Hevin ; left won brother.” 
“Was it your brother?” asked the cashier.-Tim 
tried to brace up, but he couldn’t. The big tears came 
up, bis chin quivered, and he pointed to the notice on the 
counter and gasped : “I—I had to sell my kit to do it, b— 
but he had his arms aroun’ my neck when he d—died 1” 
He hurried away home, but the news went to the boys, 
and they gathered in a group and talked. Tim had not 
been home an hour, before a barefooted boy left the kit on 
the doorstep, and in the box was a bouquet of flowers, 
purchased by pennies contributed by the crowd of ragged 
feathers, wings, legs, bills, etc.—all made on one general 
plan, you will find on examining them that they are won¬ 
derfully varied, and that each is adapted to get its living 
in a peculiar way. When you see the wicked-looking 
bill, and the strong claws of a Hawk, you know that it 
means mischief, and that small birds must keep out of 
their way. If you see the long legs and long neck 
of the Cranes, you know that these birds must get their 
living by wading. So every class of birds shows in 
the form of its parts, the mode of life to which it is fitted. 
When we come to examine what are generally known as 
“ water-fowls,” the geese, the ducks, the teals, and 
others, we shall find them equally fitted for their particu¬ 
lar kind of life. They are usually strong of wing, and 
can make long flights. When on the water they can 
swim, their webbed feet being especially suited to this 
kind of motion; then very often, such birds can dive, and 
get their food from the plants which grow only at the 
bottoms of the streams and ponds. The picture shows 
you two of our most beautiful water birds, the Blue- 
winged and Green-winged Teals, the last named being 
found all over the Continent, while the other has not yet 
been found west of the Rocky Mountains. The orni¬ 
thologists—as those who study the science of birds are 
called—class these as “River Ducks,” which do not, like 
blue wings of the male, but much more of brown in her 
general coloring. This bird appears in the Middle and 
New England States in April, on its way to its breeding 
grounds in the far North—though it sometimes nests in 
New England; and it again appears in autumn, on its 
way to the far South, where it passes the winter. The 
Green-winged Teal is shown on the right of the picture, 
the male on the bank above, and the female in the water 
below. It is very common in our fresh waters in both 
spring and fall, and usually passes for a duck, both with 
sportsmen, and in the markets. Fanciers in such matters 
regard the flesh of this bird quite equal to that of the 
celebrated Canvas-back Duck; it does not confine itself 
to water plants, but feeds also upon such grains and 
berries as it finds on land. It is very easily domesti¬ 
cated, and the wild birds have been known to feed with 
tame fowls in the farmer’s barn-yard, and share their corn 
with them. The plumage of this bird is very beautiful; 
its head and neck are of a fine chestnut color, with a 
black chin; its wings are marked with a rich green, and 
it is especially distinguished by a showy curved white 
mark, just before the bend of the wing. Besides the 
Teals, here represented, the English Teal is sometimes 
found on our Atlantic Coast, and the one called the Cinna¬ 
mon Teal is found in the far Western and Southern States. 
