Page:Early Spring in Massachusetts (1881).djvu/258

244 them four or five females. They are now pairing. I should say one or two pairs are made. At first we see only a male and female quite on the alert, some way out on the pond, tacking back and forth, and looking every way. They keep close together, headed one way, and when one turns the other also turns quickly. The male appears to take the lead. Soon the rest appear, sailing out from the shore into sight. We hear a squeaking note as if made by a pump, and presently see four or five great herring gulls wheeling about. Sometimes they make a sound like the scream of a hen hawk. They are shaped somewhat like a very thick white rolling-pin sharpened at both ends. At length they alight near the ducks. The sheldrakes at length acquire confidence, come close in shore and go to preening themselves They are all busy about it at once Among them, or near by, I at length detect three or four whistlers by their wanting the red bill, being considerably smaller and less white, having a white spot on the head, a black back, and altogether less white. They also keep more or less, apart and do not dive when the rest do At length I detect two little dippers, as I have called them, though I am not sure that I have ever seen the male before. They are male and female They are