On our way back from the sands, one of the dogs made a dart at a clump
of reeds, and a troop of large birds rose on the wing with a loud
noise. Fritz let fly at them, and brought down two at a shot. One of
them fell quite dead, but its mate, though hurt in the wing, made use
of its long legs so well that it would have got off if Bill had not
held it. The joy of Fritz, to have caught such a strange bird, was so
great that he would have us at once bind it by the neck and take it
back with us. "Look," said Ernest, "what fine plumes he has, and you
see he has web feet like a goose, and has long legs like a stork: thus
he can run on land as fast as he can swim."
"Yes," said I, "and he can fly with more speed through the air, for
these birds have great strength in their wings. In fact, few birds have
such means of flight as the FLA-MIN-GO."
My wife thought the great bird might need more food than we could
spare. I told her that it would feed on small fish and worms, and not
rob our geese of their grain. I then tied him to a stake near the
stream; and in a few days we were glad to find that he knew us, and
would come at a call, like a tame bird.
While I sat on the grass with my sons, late in the day, I thought I
would try to make a bow and thus save our shot.
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