OF A RANCHMAN 133 



a good shot, with a close-shooting, strong- 

 hitting gun. I remember one evening, while 

 coming over with a wagon team from the 

 head waters of O'Fallon Creek, across the 

 Big Sandy, when it became a matter of a 

 good deal of interest for us to kill some- 

 thing, as otherwise we would have had very 

 little to eat. We had camped near a succes- 

 sion of small pools, containing one or two 

 teal, which I shot ; but a teal is a small bird 

 when placed before three hungry men. 

 Sharp-tails, however, were quite numerous, 

 having come in from round about, as evening 

 came on, to drink. They were in superb 

 condition, stout and heavy, with clean, 

 bright plumage, but very shy ; and they rose 

 so far off and flew so strongly and swiftly 

 that a good many cartridges were spent be- 

 fore four of the plump, white-bellied birds 

 were brought back to the wagon in my 

 pockets. 



Later than this they sometimes unite into 

 great packs containing hundreds of ind 

 uals, and then show a strong preference for 



