in the country, by f gray severne.

ducklings big and ducklings small,

this is how we feed them all—

yellowbill and featherbreast,

speckletail, and all the rest:—

on sweet meal they dine and sup—

oh, how fast they eat it up!

’tis indeed a pretty sight—

soon the bucket’s empty quite.

“quack!” when dinner is begun;

“quack!” they say when it is done;

though it wasn’t known before,

“quack’s” a duckling’s word for “more.”

then the pretty feathered things

tuck their heads beneath their wings,

just as if for rest inclined,

quacking: “how well we have dined!”

later on, at evening cool,

you will find them in the pool;

yellowbill and featherbreast,

speckletail, and all the rest!