18 
THE NORTHLAND BIRD LIFE 
resting, and as for being slim, it was true 
there wasn’t a bird among them who was 
half as high as this stranger, for, of course, 
it is well known how plump young Duck 
folks and young Gray Goose folks are, and 
Little Baby Laughing Loon was of just the 
same kind. But as for this stranger—why, 
if they had known anything about living 
skeletons they would have called him that 
at the first glance. 
“Look!” exclaimed Tommie, but that was 
as far as he could go because of his aston¬ 
ishment. 
The .stranger was as awkward as he 
looked, every bit of it! When he stooped 
to get a better look at the other bird folks 
he really looked as if he might fall over; 
and to make matters more strange, he drew 
one of his long legs up under his ragged 
coat, which was not a bathing suit at all, 
but a kind of a great storm coat. They all 
thought he would surely fall over, but he 
didn’t. He just stood there on one foot and 
