296 CALIFORNIA BIRD STUDIES 



into the water and resting there for a second before taking 

 wing. There were also a few Western Grebes, a Bufflehead 

 Duck, in full adult male plumage, but which, nevertheless, 

 had lost its flight feathers, and a family of Wild Geese, 

 (Branta canadensis subsp.), with fully grown young. Later 

 I saw an adult of this species which, like the Bufflehead, had 

 molted its wing-quills, and could only flap over the water. 



The bird had 



Wild Goose 

 lolted its wing feathers and could not fly 



Late in the afternoon, we suddenly emerged from the 

 tules into the lake. We now looked out over a broad expanse 

 of water, but everywhere the view was bounded by tules ; in 

 no place was the land visible at the water's edge. 



Doubtless it is due to this apparent shorelessness, to the 

 luminous atmosphere of a desert lake, to the strange cloud 

 forms, and to the peculiar configuration of its treeless vol- 

 canic hills, that Klamath Lake owes its singular, unearthly 

 beauty. 



Possibly the mental effect of the lake's unusual sur- 

 roundings was increased by the dramatic manner in which 

 they were so unexpectedly revealed. But even on subse- 

 quent visits, when we were prepared for the lake 's appear- 

 ance, it still impressed us as belonging to another world. 



But even more than the charms of the lake itself, of cloud 

 effects and sunsets which no man could describe and no 



