Sometimes a wounded bird will come up under the stern 
of a boat to get air, or even will follow close behind, so that 
finally, when the attention of the gunner is attracted else¬ 
where, it will succeed in getting ashore unobserved. 
There is some evidence to the effect that birds sometimes 
hide beneath the surface among water plants, and cling 
there with their feet, either being entirely submerged or 
showing only the bill above water. A bird may even cling 
by its feet and so remain submerged until death. Mr. B. J. 
Olson of Kearney, Neb., avers that he saw a Dipper or 
Water Ouzel which was shot on the Bitter Root River in 
Montana, “fly” about 100 feet under water and then die, 
clinging with its feet to rock moss in about a foot of water. 
Mr. Albert J. B. Kirn of Solomon, Kan., says that he found 
a wounded Pied-billed Grebe apparently clinging with its 
feet to weeds under water. The bill of the bird was below 
the surface. It was not clinging with its bill, as when he 
tried to take it, it pecked his hand. Mr. A. M. Brooking 
of Inland, Neb., says that he shot a duck which fell into 
an isolated bunch of rushes. After waiting about ten min¬ 
utes he went to get the bird, but it was not in sight. He 
found it dead below the surface, grasping the base of a 
rush with both feet. Its body was in an upright position, 
with its head stretched up, but its bill was several inches 
under water. When dislodged it rose. On one or two occa¬ 
sions he has found ducks with the bill sticking out of water 
enough to get air. On being dislodged they would try to 
swim away. 
It would seem at first sight that a duck, with its flat foot 
and its short hind toe, would have difficulty in grasping 
anything, but Mr. Willard E. Treat found one dead in a 
marsh, “grasping tightly” a reed with one foot; and we 
know that Wood Ducks and Tree Ducks easily perch on the 
limbs of trees and grasp them with their feet. 
It is claimed that rails, like ducks, will dive and hold on 
either by feet or bill. Dr. B. H. Warren of West Chester, 
Pa., tells me that Clapper Rails when wounded are very 
expert in eluding pursuers by hiding below the surface of 
the water. Sometimes they will dive and hold to seaweed 
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