above the water, which was just deep enough for it to dive 
into, grasp a weed and hang on. When I finally got to it 
and lifted it out,, it plainly showed grass in the bill. A 
companion was dumbfounded at such an action and stated 
that he could never have brought himself to believe such 
a performance had he not witnessed it with his own eyes.” 
Apparently in these cases there was no possibility of 
entanglement, as the birds were close to the surface and 
could be plainly seen. 
Mr. John L. Cole of Nevada, Iowa, reports that in the 
case of a Mallard male which was shot and fell in about 
eighteen inches of water, the bird at once dived to the bot¬ 
tom. Grasping with its bill a large stem, it continued to 
cling for some time (perhaps for twenty minutes) after 
death. “I was standing in the water near the place where 
he fell,” writes Mr. Cole, “and I did not see a movement 
of his body after I reached the place. I went at once to 
the place where he fell and watched him during this time. 
At the end of that period he released his hold and slowly 
came up. No movement was observed after he came to the 
surface. This one remained longest under water of any I 
have observed which clung to any object after being 
wounded.” 
Mr. Walter H. Miller of Laporte, Indiana, writes: “I have 
often pried Bluebills loose from the bottom by the use of 
an oar. They always cling to the weeds by their bills. I 
have on several occasions taken them off the weeds in shal¬ 
low water with my hands.” 
The idea that wounded water birds sometimes commit 
suicide can no longer be classed with the tales of hibernat¬ 
ing swallows and hoop-snakes, but no one has actually de¬ 
termined whether the birds have died of their wounds or of 
drowning. Although they may virtually commit suicide, 
self-murder is not actual except where the victim under¬ 
stands the meaning of death and has a suicidal intent. We 
can hardly credit a bird with such understanding or such 
deliberate intent. Its action seems a mere instinctive, if 
desperate, endeavor to escape from a pursuing enemy,—an 
endeavor which it may at times carry too far. 
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