The Water-fowl of the Pacific Coast 523 



large ducks with which he is nearly always more 

 or less mixed. Yet there are days when there is 

 no pintail in sight, and other days when half the 

 bag may be made of them, so that they are never 

 reliable. Yet scarcely any duck is more welcome, 

 while none surpass the sprigtail in those mysteri- 

 ous attractions that are all the more attractive 

 because so mysterious. If we could say wherein 

 the charm of the field lies, it is doubtful if the 

 charm would be there. 



THE CANVAS-BACK 



It is no less difficult to say what there is about 

 the canvas-back that so makes expectation throb 

 when his white coat begins to glimmer in the 

 sun. It certainly is not its flavor, for it is here a 

 very common duck, and generally not as good as 

 the teal. Yet a fever begins to consume your 

 soul as the bird rises into the line of sight that 

 grows ever more raging as the bird approaches 

 the line of fire. Surely it is not because of its 

 size, which is less than that of the mallard. Nor 

 is it because of superior gamy qualities, for, 

 though as wild as the mallard in vacating on the 

 slightest suspicion, he is far his inferior in getting 

 out of the way of the gun after it begins to shine. 

 He knows little about climbing out of the way of 

 a tenderfoot's gun even after it is raised, and often 

 makes a failure in sheering off where there is 



