THE OOLOGIST 



of Co-operative Museum Building, is a 

 splendid conception, but the swelling 

 of an individual to such an extent as 

 to make the idea and application of 

 this theory secondary and the per- 

 sonal views, ideas, notions, likes and 

 dislikes and vanity of the person take 

 precedence over the Co-operative idea 

 and over the very Museum itself will 

 always result in disaster. A practical, 

 level-headed, common sense applica- 

 tion of this co-operative theory con- 

 not but result in the up-building of a 

 splendid institution, but a vain effort 

 of one to emulate the toad in com- 

 peting with the ox for size, always 

 results in a blow-up, just as it did in 

 the days of Easop. 



Candidly, we are sorry to see this 

 splendidly conceived institution 

 stranded upon the rocks of possible 

 failure, and we hope ultimately that 

 the idea upon which it was founded 

 may be carried to successful fruition 

 by some one more fitted to manage 

 the ship. R. M. B. 



WILD DUCKS MAKE 



OAKLAND FAMOUS 



Daily Sport of Youngsters in Mansions 

 Nearby Is Feeding Wildfowl. 



Venice has its pigeons and Oakland 

 has its v/ild ducks. But the ducks are 

 heeding the call of the wild in these 

 warm, spring days and winging their 

 way back to colder regions, whence 

 they came. 



So there is many a sorrowful young 

 face and many an aching young heart 

 in Oakland, for the daily winter past- 

 time of the children of "feeding the 

 ducks on Lake Merritt" is passing. 



The duck season of 1916-17 has seen 

 more thousands of wild duck than 

 ever before take refuge on Lake Mer- 

 ritt, the great body of salt water 

 in the heart of a great city. With 

 almost human intelligence, the water- 

 fowl flee to this place for safety, with 



the first bang of the pumpgun when 

 the duck season opens in California, 

 on October 15. 



On this body of water, the only salt 

 lake in the world inside a city limits, 

 the ducks rest secure throughout the 

 hunting season. Surrounding the lake 

 are the most beautiful residence sec- 

 tions of Oakland, and broad drives 

 over which automobiles pass constant- 

 ly. The lake is set in the midst of a 

 park which is the playground of 

 thousands daily. Yachts, motorboats 

 and other pleasure craft ply back and 

 forth. 



Nevertheless, the Ducks rest un- 

 afraid on the portion of the lake reser- 

 ved for them, bask on the lawns and 

 even dodge through the legs of strol- 

 lers. 



Every morning the city authorities 

 feed them and this is a signal for an 

 outpouring of the youngsters in the 

 homes round about. The Ducks are 

 carefully guarded by the park police. 

 They know it and they know, too, that 

 woe would befall anyone who attempt- 

 ed to harm them. 



W. W. Richards of Oakland, who has 

 hunted big and little game all over the 

 North American continent, has made a 

 study of the Lake Merritt Ducks for 

 years. He has developed some inter- 

 esting facts. He says: 



'The first Ducks to reach Lake Mer- 

 ritt in the fall from the north are 

 spring, or pintails. They begin arriv- 

 ing in the latter part of August, and 

 by September 1st there are tens of 

 thousands of them in California. Most 

 of these sprig come from the Klamath 

 reservation near the California-Oregon 

 state line. 



"The next migratory flight consists 

 of countless millions of Pintail, Wid- 

 geon, Green-winged Teal, Shovelers, 

 Gadwell, and Mallard. They arrive 

 about the middle of October from the 

 'Flats' of laska, a bleak area of about 



I 



