the shoals well out of
reach of land and danger. When possible, they choose the former,
because it gives them an abundance of fresh water, which is a daily
necessity; and because, unlike the coots which are often found in
great numbers on the same shoals, they dislike tossing about on the
waves for any length of time. But late in the autumn they desert the
ponds and are seldom seen there again until spring, even though the
ponds are open. They are very shy about being frozen in or getting ice
on their feathers, and prefer to get their fresh water at the mouths
of creeks and springs.

With all their caution,--and they are very good weather prophets,
knowing the times of tides and the approach of storms, as well as the
days when fresh water freezes,--they sometimes get caught. Once I
found a flock of five in great distress, frozen into the thin ice
while sleeping, no doubt, with heads tucked under their wings. At
another time I found a single bird floundering about with a big lump
of ice and mud attached to his tail. He had probably found the
insects plentiful in some bit of soft mud at low tide, and stayed
there too long with the thermometer at zero.

Night is their feeding time; on the seacoast they fly in to the
feeding grounds just at dusk. Fog bewilders them, and no bird likes to
fly in rain, because it makes the feathers heavy; so on foggy or rainy
afternoons they come in early, or not at all. The favorite feeding
ground is a salt marsh, with springs and creeks of brackish water.
Seeds, roots, tender grasses, and snails and insects in the mud left
by the low tide are their usual winter food. When these grow scarce
they betake themselves to the mussel beds with the coots; their flesh
in consequence becomes strong and fishy.

When the first birds come in to the feeding grounds before dark, they
do it with the greatest caution, examining not only the little pond or
creek, but the whole neighborhood before lighting. The birds that
follow trust to the inspection of these first comers, and generally
fly straight in. For this reason it is well for one who attempts to
see them at this time to have live decoys and, if possible, to have
his blind built several days in advance, in order that the birds which
may have been feeding in the place shall see no unusual object when
they come in. If the blind be newly built, only the stranger birds
will fly straight in to his decoys. Those that have been there before
will either t