The Water-fowl of the Pacific Coast 551 



each white-collared neck aimed upward and out- 

 ward, mounting the resounding air at a pace that 

 left us but a moment to get the gun into position. 

 And a good gun it had to be, for these quick 

 geese shed shot like hail unless very strongly 

 driven, and even then they often carry it far out 

 into the open water, settling into it in a long, 

 drifting flight that shows no sign of death. 



THE SWAN 



While the goose was yet comparatively easy of 

 approach and the mallard still a child of simplicity 

 in California, the wild swan seemed to know that 

 his size and rarity made him a mark for the great 

 white spoiler, so that he alighted only in the larger 

 ponds, kept well out in the middle, and mounted 

 the breeze in hot haste when a man came near 

 with a gun. But with all his shrewdness he dis- 

 liked to change his course when once under full 

 headway, so that if another man were concealed 

 along the line of flight he was likely to take for 

 another lake, the swan was too apt to rely on 

 speed of wing to get past the danger, if discov- 

 ered, rather than swerve enough from it in time. 

 This is about the only way one can rely on getting 

 a swan with the shot-gun, for they are everywhere 

 rare as compared with other water-fowl. A good, 

 long-range rifle-shot may occasionally get one, 

 but you will find the game sitting a long way out 



