ty for such
little fellows, and whistling loudly. From the bank above, a swift
ripple had cut out into the water between them and the only bit of bog
with which they were familiar. Just behind the ripple were the sharp
nose and the beady eyes of Musquash, who is always in some mischief of
this kind. In one of his prowlings he had discovered the little brood;
now he was manoeuvering craftily to keep the frightened youngsters
moving till they should be tired out, while he himself crept carefully
between them and the shore.

Musquash knows well that when a young loon, or a shelldrake, or a
black duck, is caught in the open like that, he always tries to get
back where his mother hid him when she went away. That is what the
poor little fellows were trying to do now, only to be driven back and
kept moving wildly by the muskrat, who lifted himself now and then
from the water, and wiggled his ugly jaws in anticipation of the
feast. He had missed the eggs in his search; but young loon would be
better, and more of it.--"There you are!" he snapped viciously,
lunging at the nearest loon, which flashed under water and barely
escaped.

I had started up to interfere, for I had grown fond of the little wild
things whose growth I had watched from the beginning, when a great
splashing began on my left, and I saw the old mother bird coming like
a fury. She was half swimming, half flying, tearing over the water at
a great pace, a foamy white wake behind her.--"Now, you little
villain, take your medicine. It's coming; it's coming," I cried
excitedly, and dodged back to watch. But Musquash, intent on his evil
doing (he has no need whatever to turn flesh-eater), kept on viciously
after the exhausted little ones, paying no heed to his rear.

Twenty yards away the mother bird, to my great astonishment, flashed
out of sight under water. What could it mean! But there was little
time to wonder. Suddenly a catapult seemed to strike the muskrat from
beneath and lift him clear from the water. With a tremendous rush and
sputter Hukweem came out beneath him, her great pointed bill driven
through to his spine. Little need of my help now. With another
straight hard drive, this time at eye and brain, she flung him aside
disdainfully and rushed to her shivering little ones, questioning,
chiding, praising them, all in the same breath, fluttering and
cackling low in an hysteric wave of tenderness. Then she swam twice
around the dead muskrat and led her b