hundreds perched on telegraph wires. .As is the habit with swallows generally, 

 tree swallows migrate by day feeding as they go, and a flock passing swiftly south 

 presents to the casual observer an every day appearance well calculated to deceive. 

 Watch the flock as it crosses the road and passes from field to field and you will 

 notice that while the line of flight has many a twist and turn it trends steadily to 

 the south and that no individual takes the back track. 



The tree swallow consumes vast numbers of gnats, flying ants, beetles, mos- 

 quitoes and other flying insects. It exhibits a rather curiOus departure from the 

 traditions of its kind in that it appears to be very fond of the berries of the bay- 

 berrv or wax. myrtle. It also often chooses these bushes for a roosting place at 

 night. 



Canvas-Back (Marlla valisluen'a) 



Range : Breeds from central British Columbia, Fort Yukon, Great Slave 

 Lake, and southwestern Keewatin south to Oregon, northern Nevada, Nebraska, 

 and southern ^Minnesota ; winters from southern British Columbia, Nevada, Colo- 

 rado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and western New York south to central Mexico 

 (Jalisco) and the Gulf coast. 



The canvas-back, perhaps the most famous of American waterfowl, has pur- 

 chased its fame at a price. So highly is it prized by the ei)icure that today he 

 who can afford to dme on canvas-back sets the mark of luxurious living. Not 

 that the canvas-back differs essentially from other ducks, but its exceptional 

 flavor is due to the fact that its favorite food is "wild celery,'" a long ribbon-like 

 grass which grows in shallow ponds and estuaries. As the plant roots several 

 feet under the surface, only the diving ducks can secure it and the plebeian kinds 

 have to be content with such floating fragments as they can pick tip or can steal 

 from their more aristocratic relatives. In Oregon and Washington the canvas- 

 back lives much upon wapato, a bulblike root formerly a staple article of food 

 among many Indian tribes, and their e.xceptional flavor is said to be little, if any, 

 inferior to that of the celery- fed canvas-back of the East. Elsewhere the flesh of 

 the canvas-back is in nowise superior to that of other ducks, and in some localities 

 on the west coast, indeed, is inedible because of its rank smell and taste. Thus 

 prized alike by the sportsman and by the epicure, the ranks of the canvas-back 

 have been depleted by the relentless pursuit to which it has been subjected. How- 

 ever, the greater number of these ducks breed far to the north warrl, where they 

 are safe, and under present laws their numbers should increase to something like 

 their former abundance. 



477 



