The Water-fowl of the Pacific Coast 549 



any of the birds to fly over the land, this blind had 

 to be near the water, where anything conspicuous 

 would be suspicious. A box sunk in the mud 

 with a very light fringe of seaweed was the only 

 sure thing, and even from this it was unsafe to 

 show a corner of your hat or an inch too much of 

 gun. Even this did not last long, and by 1883 a 

 floating battery out in the water was about the 

 only thing that could deceive them, as they do not 

 fly very high. And by 1890 most of them had 

 ceased to trust their judgment about the safety 

 even of open water, and forsook San Diego Bay 

 for the more quiet waters of Mexico. 



Yet it seems but yesterday that the dark lines 

 of birds rose over the narrow sand-spit that sepa- 

 rated Spanish Bight from the ocean, sending a 

 strange thrill even through nerves that had gazed 

 unmoved on the mightiest hordes of other water- 

 fowl the North could send down before the days 

 of the breech-loader. And soon a dark haze 

 began to appear on each side of the dark dots of 

 which the line was composed, changing quickly 

 into the quivering of jet-black wings mingled 

 with flashes of light from white collars around 

 swarthy throats. Yet hardly did we dare look at 

 them, but lay crouching low in the box, waiting 

 for the hiss of sailing wings to tell us they were 

 nearing the decoys. Yet rarely would they do so 

 at first, but on they swept in ranks sometimes two 



