little drops of oil like drops of perspiration. This keeps the water and
the rain from wetting the ducks through and through. You have heard people
say sometimes: "The way water runs off a duck's back." Well, now you know
the reason why.

In rainy weather Hepzebiah wears a blue waterproof with a little hood but
the ducks do not need anything like that. Their everyday coats of white
and black are just as good. If the White Wyandottes cannot get under the
chicken coop or the barn quick enough when it rains, their feathers are all
mussed up but the ducks seem always dressed in their best.

Their bills are different from their relatives'. They are not short and
pointed like the chicken's but broad and long.

And they have what are called web feet. Between the toes are pieces of
skin, thick and tough like canvas. These web feet are like small oars or
paddles. With them they can push against the water of the pond and swim
quite fast.

The ducks are very fond of the pond but their cousins think it a dreadful
place.

"Cluck, cluck," say the White Wyandottes, "what a foolish way of spending
your time, sailing on the water when there are fat, brown worms to dig for
in the nice earth!"

You see animals, like people, like different things. The world wouldn't be
half so interesting if we all liked the _same_ things, would it?

The other night Jehosophat felt very foolish when he came in to supper. His