Now, let us take a peep at the birds which live mostly on the water; you will think first of the great, solemn white swans. Then of the snowy geese and of the parti-colored ducks. What splendid colors ducks have! If you live by the sea, you will often watch the gulls and gannets with their wide white wings. All these birds build their nests in reeds and grass along the bank, or in ledges of rock in a cliff. One day I was sitting behind some rocks on a little island. All at once I heard a hearty laugh. I rose up softly, and looked over the rocks. There on the water sat, all alone, a water-fowl. I hid my head and gave a loud “ha! ha! ha!” Then the bird threw back his head, and gave a laugh with all its might. It made me think of what my grandfather used to say to the boys, if they were too loud in their mirth for his taste. “Do not laugh like a loon,” he would say. Is it news to you that a bird can laugh? The water-fowl and I laughed at each other for a long time. Then I rose and stood in plain sight. Down he went under the water, and I saw him no more. I wish you would read a lovely poem written by the poet Bryant, about “The Water-fowl.” Once I was out on the sea in a boat. We saw lying on the water the tail of a fish. We rowed near. Well! Here was a sight! A large duck, called an alwife,[25] had tried to swallow a fish. But the fish was too big for her throat. Having got part of it in, she could get the fish neither in nor out. So she and the fish had both choked to death, and were floating around in the water. A very famous man once said, that he thought a gull must be the most happy of birds. It can swim, fly, walk, almost equally well. It is at home on earth, water, or air. I have seen a bird called “The Diver.” It goes down under water for its food. It uses its wings under water to swim with, and will stay there a long time. Most ducks will dive, and come up a long way from where they went down. The water birds all have close, thick plumage. Most of the down which we use, comes from the water birds of the far North. The down not only keeps them warm, but keeps air in its meshes, and helps them to float. It is like a cork jacket for them. Water birds live chiefly on fish, crabs, and little water animals. But many of them eat seeds and berries of plants growing along the coast. They will readily pick up any kind of food thrown upon the water. Gulls follow ships for days to get the scraps thrown overboard by the sailors. FOOTNOTES: [25] Alwife is probably a short form of “Old Wife.” This duck is often called the “Old Squaw” on the Cape Cod coast. LESSON XXXI. ON THE WING. [Illustration: ROBERT O’ LINCOLN.]