Figure 1. The pattern of the Delta Marsh 



easiest low-altitude routes over land, usually following the shortest path be- 

 tween two water areas. Where two water areas are connected by gap, chan- 

 nel, or creek, this is the passageway for waterfowl. In the absence of a water- 

 way, the pass is at the narrowest neck of land separating two areas ; or a flight 

 may follow a dry channel bed that once linked two bodies of water. Where 

 a creek meanders aimlessly, the more direct overland route may be favored. 

 The lakeshore passes are used regardless of wind and weather, but many 

 marsh crossings serve only in certain winds. A given pass may be used regu- 

 larly when the wind blows from the northwest or southeast, but may seldom 

 or never be followed when the wind is from another direction, at which 

 time travel is made by some more favorable course. Thus, in moving over 

 the marsh, the duck has several trailways, from which one is selected ac- 

 cording to the wind. Many a gunner has been disappointed when a shifting 

 wind robbed him of a flight of ducks he had located the previous day. One 

 afternoon Peter Ward and I stood at a narrow neck of land between two 



