3IO The Water-fowl Family 



The tide was high and it was still dark; we 

 couldn't see exactly what to do. There was some 

 little discussion ; my companions wanted to cross 

 over the lagoon and shoot from the farther side ; 

 the island we were on seemed good enough for 

 me. We wound up by each going his own way; 

 I stayed put. It was perhaps a hundred yards to 

 the farther end of the bluff, which was surrounded 

 on all sides by the tide ; this would afford some 

 protection from the wind, and thither I go; a 

 narrow spit of sand formed a bar at this end, and 

 here stood a single plover, all of which seemed a 

 good sign. After finding as dry a place as possi- 

 ble for my gun and shells, I look around for some 

 seaweed to make a blind with ; as is usually the 

 case when you want seaweed very much, or any- 

 thing else, it isn't to be had, and it was only after 

 considerable labor that I could scrape enough 

 together to pretty well cover me up, if I stretched 

 out full length. I had about a dozen flat wooden 

 decoys, and I set these out in water at the edge 

 of the bar. That single plover was the only evi- 

 dence of anything alive up to date, and it must 

 have been close to six o'clock. Soon a flock of 

 Caspian tern squawked at the blind — they evi- 

 dently had a liking for the bar. Several Bona- 

 parte's gulls circle around it for a while, then put 

 up with what they can't help, and light in the 

 decoys ; presently a flock of blackbreast, far out 



