WILD DUCKS AT LAKE MERRITT 75 



the middle of a pond, and my ! how the ducks and geese 

 did fly! I secured a limit bag of twenty-five ducks, 

 namely, sprig, widgeon, spoonbill and teal, and three 

 geese, a honker (13-pound Canada), a speckle breast and 

 a white goose. It is a fact that I could not sleep last 

 Saturday evening until after 1 a. m. due to the incessant 

 noise made by the ducks and geese feeding in the moon- 

 light. 



I stayed at one of the clubhouses situated near the 

 middle of about 53,000 acres of overflowed land contain- 

 ing wild celery and rice and upon inquiry as to the num- 

 ber of birds ''on hand," was infoimed that ducks were 

 estimated at about 350,000 and geese about 25,000. 

 My own opinion is that the birds were in larger quan- 

 tities than those quoted above. Each hunter is located 

 (shown) a blind; sometimes it happens to be a pit dug 

 in the ground ; again it may be a sunken iron barrel or 

 perhaps a blind built of wood. I was given a pit and 

 informed not to shoot until 6:30 a. m., an ironclad rule 

 of the club, and while waiting for the time limit, busied 

 myself in arranging things in general about the pit, 

 such as removing old shell boxes, and above five gallons 

 of water from within the pit. This accomplished, it was 

 necessary to rub my hands to start circulation, as the 

 frost was "thick" all around and in the pit. 



