6o Life in the Open 



sea and north of Santa Monica some years ago, and 

 watched them for weeks. By keeping behind my horse 

 and working him on the flock in a circle, I approached 

 so near that I could see their every move. They were 

 feeding on grasshoppers. 



While the geese are not so common as in the old 

 times, the grain fields of Centinela and others in ex- 

 posed positions are still raided at night by the lesser 

 snow goose. You may walk along the shore in the 

 afternoon and see the white platoons far out on the 

 water, surrounded by ducks ; and if you have patience, 

 and the moon is bright, may see them coming in to de- 

 vastate your alfalfa patch, or to spend the night in a 

 revelry in your barley fields. Then there is the white- 

 fronted goose. I found a little laguna made by the 

 rains near the Mission hills some years ago, frequented 

 by the Canada goose. The country near by was open 

 and planted to barley, and when the birds had surfeited 

 themselves, they would rise and come wheeling along, 

 dropping down near the blind where I lay concealed. I 

 found at first they paid little attention to my horse, 

 which I left under a tree, and I tried to work up to them 

 mounted, but they saw the trick at once. 



I reached the lake one winter morning when the fog 

 was thick and heavy. The hills were green as emeralds, 

 and the drenching rains had brought out the alfileria 

 and burr clover with a host of flowers that grew down to 

 the very edge of the little laguna. I rode up to a low 

 hill and looked over from the saddle ; the soft verdure 



