The Water-fowl of the Pacific Coast 521 



your head in such a way that only the expert can 

 hit one and then, having left the tyro pointing at 

 vacancy, may alight within a hundred yards or 

 more of him, as if in supreme contempt. And 

 sometimes on some of the larger ponds the teal 

 is the only salvation of the bag, for he will often 

 remain after the canvas-back and the red-head 

 have indorsed the opinion of the mallard and 

 the sprigtail that there is a flavor of a new nitro 

 powder in the air. 



THE "SPRIG" OR PINTAIL DUCK 



Less brilliant than some of the ducks, the ele- 

 gant arrangement of brown, black, and white, 

 glossy with green and violet, that robes the sprig- 

 tail, his trim and graceful figure, large size and 

 gamy manners, make him quite as attractive as 

 any of the ducks. He is apparently the same 

 here as on the Atlantic side of the country, a 

 bird always so welcome that you feel no disap- 

 pointment when what you supposed a mallard 

 shows the long tail feathers trailing against the 

 sky as he comes within shot. But on this coast 

 he has a special charm as the first duck that 

 arrives in any numbers from the north, especially 

 in southern California. The duck is never more 

 attractive than when he first looms into the circle 

 of expectation, and the sprigtail swinging one 

 hundred strong around some bold promontory on 



