192 DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



Some five years ago Mr. Gray secured a few wild-duck eggs, and 

 hatched them under a hen. The little ducks were reared and fed on the 

 little pond. The following spring they left the place, to return in the 

 fall, bringing with them broods of young; also bringing other ducks to 

 the home where protection was afforded them and plenty of good feed 

 was provided. Each year since, the ducks have scattered in the spring 

 to mate and rear their families, returning again with greatly increased 

 numbers in the fall, and again bringing strangers to the haven of refuge. 



I drove out to the ranch November 24, 1902, and found the little 

 pond almost black with the birds, and was fortunate enough to secure a 

 picture of a part of the pond while the ducks were thickly gathered there- 

 on. Ice had formed around the edges, and this ice was covered with ducks. 

 The water was also alive with others, which paid not the least attention 

 to the party of strangers on the shore. 



From Mr. Gray I learned that there were some 600 ducks of various 

 kinds on the pond at that time, though it was then early for them to seek 

 winter quarters. Later in the year, he assured me, there would be be- 

 tween 2,000 and 3,000 teal, mallards, canvas-backs, redheads and other 

 varieties, all perfectly at home and fearless of danger. The family have 

 habitually approached the pond from the house, which stands on the south 

 side, and should any person appear on the north side of the pond the ducks 

 immediately take fright and flight. Wheat was strewn on the ground and 

 in the water, and the ducks waddled around us within a few inches of our 

 feet to feed, paying not the least attention to us, or to the old house dog 

 which walked near. 



Six miles east of the ranch is San Luis Lake, to which these ducks 

 travel almost daily while the lake is open. When they are at the lake it is 

 impossible to approach within gunshot of the then timid birds. Some un- 

 sympathetic boys and men have learned the habit of the birds, and place 

 themselves in hiding along the course of flight to and from the lake. Many 

 ducks are shot in this way, but woe to the person caught firing a gun on 

 or near the home pond. When away from home, the birds are as wild as 

 other wild ducks and fail to recognize any members of the Gray family. 

 While at home they follow the boys around the barn-yard, squawking for 

 feed like so many tame ducks. 



This is the greatest sight I have ever witnessed, and one that I could 

 not believe existed until I had seen it. Certainly it is worth travelling 

 many miles to see, and no one, after seeing it, would care to shoot birds 

 that, when kindly treated, make such charming pets. 



The Group of Eider Ducks. — The arctic and subarctic 

 regions contain a group of about seven species of large sea- 



