"Junior came by himself this year, Maggie didn't come?" the park animals found it hard to believe. It seemed everyone knew about the female mallard, altho' it was the greenhead who had the bright enamel head.
It was Maggie who encouraged him through his juvenile days before he got like that, the spot-billed mallard M & M knew, who'd watched them grow up together at Step Creek. Male ducklings look pitifully like females, until they're older.
I saw Maggie call to those male greenheads and have them follow her across the pond, Peter the Kawasemi recalled. Most people notice only the bright green, not the dull brown--but Maggie was the one who got them there.
It was this year, when she didn't show up, I realized for the first time how noticed she had been.
