PART V 



WILD-FOWL OF WILD-FOWL 



(Ducks and Geese) 



THOUGH the term wild-fowl is variously and 

 loosely applied, there is no class of birds it better 

 fits in its suggestive savor of wild, free Nature, 

 than that called by naturalists the "Anatidae." 

 Whatever are or are not wild-fowl, Ducks and 

 Geese are. There are few birds that reveal more 

 their inherent wildness in retiring before the 

 advances of human civilization. How often has 

 my gaze wandered wistfully over the surface of 

 some beautiful New England lake, searching for 

 what was not there, some water-fowl floating 

 upon the surface. There were the lilies, the woods, 

 the surrounding hills, all the elements of a beau- 

 tiful landscape, save this alone, and a sad lack 

 it is. But in some of the newer states of the north- 

 west it is very different. There man has been too 

 busy in reclaiming and beautifying his own home- 

 spot to disturb the innocent home-life of his wild- 

 fowl neighbors. 



None of my many bird-adventures have made 

 deeper impression upon me than those of my first 

 season spent in studying the breeding habits of the 

 Ducks and Geese in the Dakota wilds. Though I 

 had read wonderful tales of that region's bird-life, 

 it proved to be one of those pleasant surprises, all 

 too uncommon, where the actual equals expecta- 



170 



