Altogether they had endless pleasures, and were as much at ease in the
water as if there were no more land near them than there had been near
those other young birds that had teeth and no wings, four million years
or so ago. Their own wings were still small and flipper-like when, about
the first of August, they were spending the day, as they often did, in a
small cove. They were now about two-thirds grown, and their feathers
were white beneath and soft bright brown above, with bars of white spots
at their shoulders. They had funny stiff little tails, which they stuck
up out of the water or poked out of sight, as they wished. They swam
about in circles, and preened their feathers with their bills, which
were still small and gray, and not black like those of the old birds.
After a time Gavia came swimming toward them, all under water except her
head. Suddenly Father Loon joined her, and they both began diving and
catching little fishes for the two Olairs. For the vegetable part of
their dinner they had shreds of some waterplant, which Gavia brought
them, dangling from her bill. Surely never a fresher meal was served
than fish just caught and greens just pulled! No wonder it was that the
young loons grew fast, and were well and strong. After the twins were
fed, Gavia and Father Loon sank from sight under the water, heads and
all, and the Olairs saw no more of them for two hours or so, though they
heard them now and then singing, sometimes the _Tremble Song_ and
sometimes the _Silly Song_.
They were good children, and did not try to tag along or sulk because
they were left behind. First they dabbled about and helped themselves,
for dessert, to some plant growing under water, gulping down rather
large mouthfuls of it. Then they grew drowsy; and what could have been
pleasanter than going to sleep floating, with the whole cove for a
cradle?
You could never guess how those youngsters got ready for their nap. Just
like a grown-up! Each Olair rolled over on one side, till the white
under-part of his body showed above water. Then he waved the exposed leg
in the air, and tucked it away, with a quick flip, under the feathers of
his flank. Thus one foot was left in the water, for the bird to paddle
with gently while he slept, so that he would not be drifted away by the
wind. But that day one of the tired water-babies went so sound asleep
that he didn't paddle enough, and the wind played a joke on him by
shoving him along to the snaggy edge of the cove and bumping him against
a log. That was a surprise, and he woke with a start and swam quickly
back to the middle of the cove, where the other Olair was resting in the
open water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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