CHAPTER XII 

 FOLLOWING THE WATER-BIRDS 



MOST, bird-lovers feel a distinct sense of 

 achievement, a peculiar satisfaction, in ex- 

 periences with the water-birds. They 

 represent a much larger and more varied group than 

 the raptores, and like them are mostly inaccessible 

 and hard to find. Owing to their size or edible qual- 

 ities most of them have greatly diminished in num- 

 bers through shooting. Quite a number are found 

 only out at sea, either in winter, or passing in migra- 

 tion far off the coast. The majority of them breed 

 in northern latitudes. The nature of their haunts 

 makes it difficult for most people to study them. 

 However, all these things attach to them an interest 

 of sentiment and mystery, which, when felt, makes 

 one all the more determined to know them. For my- 

 self, the fever attacked me in its most malignant (or 

 beneficent) form. Since I could not find all these 

 types of water-fowl at home, I had to go where they 

 were, until now, after chasing them from Newfound- 

 land to Florida and Louisiana, and from Virginia to 

 Saskatchewan, I feel that I can rightly number most 

 of them among my intimate friends. 



To mention first the seasons in which to look for 

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