1910 J Bailey, Wild Life of an Alkaline Lake. 419 



a turquoise with a raised setting, being a round body of beautiful 

 blue water lying between the cliffs of a canon. Along its margin 

 ducks were feeding but there was no protecting cover for a col- 

 lector, and although one of the party crawled toward the birds 

 with a disguising bunch of weeds on his hat, before he was within 

 range they splashed off, rising heavily, and after flying around in 

 close flocks like swarms of insects on a summer day disappeared 

 through the yellow haze of the caiion gateway like a wedge of 

 light. As we followed in their direction the canon widened out 

 to a great sagebrush basin with a rim of yellow pines. In the 

 bottom of the basin lay the main lake, an irregular body of water 

 about four miles long and in places a mile wide. Its shore as far 

 as we could see was bare of cover and had a wide marginal mud 

 flat bad for working purposes, so when we came to a small tule- 

 bordered lake separated from it by a low ridge M'ith passes, we 

 promptly camped in an adjoining side gulch. Here to our surprise, 

 we found sheltering cottonwoods, watered by the seep from the 

 mesa, high untouched grama grass for the horses, and actually 

 fresh rain water pools, after which the spring water which we had 

 thought ourselves fortunate to get on the way seemed impossibly 

 alkaline. 



The tule-bordered lake was connected by a narrow channel 

 with a bare lake at the end of which were several acres of low half 

 submerged brown weeds that, while offering no cover to enemies 

 afforded protecting shelter and a rich feeding ground to visiting 

 ducks. Its advantages over the tule lake, from the birds' point 

 of view, were demonstrated the morning after our arrival. As 

 we came in sight of the tule lake Mr. Bailey stuck a high weed 

 into a sagebrush and, gun in hand, crouched behind the screen 

 while I sent stones splashing among the tules. Do my best, 

 nothing would rise. As I walked on toward the bare lake, how- 

 ever, the instant my figure was sighted above the sagebrush there 

 was a thrilling roar, and a great multitude of ducks rose from the 

 concealing weedy border in which they had been feeding. Breaking 

 up into flocks they circled and then rose and flew in black lines 

 through the low passes of the sagebrush ridge to the main lake. 



This experience determined our method of work. We wasted 

 no more time at the tule lake unless in passing we chanced on some 



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