Page 29 - Stories for Thinking Children 1

if you lived somewhere where there
were no human beings, how would

you find food?"
The duck answered: "We ducks
don't often leave the water when we
live in the wild. We get our food from

the water."
"But I don't see any food in the water where you are swimming,"
said Ahmad, puzzled.
The duck explained: "We get our food from the water in several
ways. Some ducks stay on the surface of the water and eat plants
and insects. Others dip their heads and the front part of their bod-

ies under the water and look for food with their tails in the air. And
still others dive right under the water and search for all their food
in that way."
Ahmad had another question: "Why do you stay in the water all
the time? Why don't you walk around on the land?"

"Our webbed feet let us swim around in the water, and we can
swim very quickly, but it is hard for us to walk on land," the duck
told him.
Ahmad then asked the duck: "When I go into the water, I always
have to keep moving to stay afloat. So, I have to use water wings
to stop myself from sinking. How do you manage to stay afloat for

so long?"
"Just as you don't have to move to stay afloat when you use your
water wings, so the air in our bodies lets us stay on top of the
water," the duck answered.
Ahmad was still puzzled: "But when I wear water

wings, I can't dive under the water. How do you
manage to do it?"
"We have air sacs in our bodies that look like little

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