136 



THE YOUNG OOLOGIST. 



early and came in by thousands. The 

 flight was simply appalling. This even- 

 ing we made another tremendous haul, and 

 thus our time passed; each day was a fair 

 repetition of the previous one. 

 ». To vary the monotony one of my com- 

 panions succeeded in killing a large White 

 Swan, which measured over seven feet 

 from tip to tip, and a day or so later the 

 other companion killed a large wildcat 

 which he saw prowling along the hank of a 

 slough, probably looking for a chance Duck 

 that might be caught napping. However, 

 the cat will probablj^ postpone his ducking 

 tour in his present condition. And now, 

 after my two companions had immortalized 

 themselves over the Swan and wildcat, was 

 I to sulier disgrace by not killing a siugie 

 noble specimen of the animal creation? Not 

 much. The next evening I achieved a feat 

 worthy of fame. As I was walking along 

 through an open meadow I spied a beauti- 

 ful little white and black animal, about the 

 size of a small badger, skipping playfully 

 along in the path before me. Now, thought 

 I, was my chance for glory, so I no sooner 

 saw the little creature than I gave chase. 

 The animal'did not seem to be in a hurry 

 (unfortunately for me) and I soon overtook 

 it. As I came to close quarters it erected 

 its beautifullittle tail, and I — I — well, for 

 reasons of my own, stopped short. I will 

 state right here that in my opinion the 

 most generous animal in the world is the 

 skunk. On the slightest acquaintance — 

 without even an informal introduction — he 

 will give you a good rich scent and not 

 charge you a cent for his services either. 

 His generosity is truly commendable. 

 After my first onslaught I recoiled a few 

 steps for obvious reasons and my good 

 health, and gave the charitable animal the 

 full contents of my two gun-barrels. After 

 this adventure I returned to camp a wiser 

 and a scented man. My companions needed 

 no explanations as to the manner of ani- 

 mal which I had encountered. Suffice is 

 to say that for some unaccountable reason 

 they strongly objected to my coming into 

 camp, and advised 'a change of clothing. 

 This prescription I complied with, and left 



my former suit a good distance to the lee- 

 ward of camp in the willows. 



After the skunk episode things ran along 

 tranquilly as ever and our luck was always 

 good. Right here I would like to say that 

 everywhere I would go, among the reeds 

 and sedge-grass, on the banks of the 

 sloughs, and in the shallow water, 1 found 

 innumerable old nests built close to and on 

 the ground. They were about eight inches 

 in diameter and composed of fight mate- 

 rial, as small tules, dried grass, etc. For 

 some time I was puzzled to know their 

 probable identity, but soon noticing the 

 numbers of California Clapper Rails which 

 abounded in every little bunch of grass and 

 sedge, I at once concluded that they were 

 the authors of the old nests. So acting on 

 these pointers I intend to visit the swamp 

 the coming egg season and try my success 

 at egg-collecting in that locality. 



But to my subject. After we had 

 camped out for a fortnight and killed 

 Ducks and Geese until killing them ceased 

 to be a novelty and lost its sport, we began 

 to re-pack and turn our faces once more 

 towards home, sweet home, at which place 

 we all arrived on the evening of January 

 3d. 1 arrived alive and well and am still 

 so, and only wish for another opportunity 

 to spend a few spare days at Duck shoot- 

 ing, and I don't think m^^ Eastern friends 

 would object to taking a little hunt with me 

 in the same neighborhood. Well, I hope 

 that some day I may have the pleasure of 

 taking a little pleasure trip with some of 

 my numerous friends who are readers of 

 The Young Oologist, so wishing you al 

 a happy New Year (although a little past 

 the season) and good luck the coming egg 

 season, I will regretfully say good-bye to 

 The Young Oologist and its many read- 

 ers. A M. Shields, 

 Los Angeles, Cal'a. 



A valued correspondent from New York 

 City writes us that among the various pres- 

 ents President-elect Cleveland is fairly del- 

 uged with, is a mammoth egg, from some 

 Virginia admirer. What kind of an egg 

 it is, is not mentioned, but he adds that it 

 IB probably "hen fruit." 



