6 



THB OOLOaiST 



start back, because when the sun does 

 not set clear in these parts, nine 

 times out of ten, we will have bad 

 weather soon. They saj^ any one that 

 predicts weather in Texas is a new 

 comer or a fool.. 



It was warm and comfortable before 

 I got half way back to camp. I looked 

 in the north and a dark blue cloud 

 was rising. And in direct line from 

 the northern sky, bunch after bunch 

 of Gulls of all description. Then Can- 

 ada geese could be seen flying high 

 and low, circling over the lake, a 

 bunch lilting now and then.- Next I 

 glanced up and large bunches of 

 ducks of all description were coming 

 in a direct line from the north. All 

 settling in dierent parts of the lake. 

 Water birds galore were observed all 

 through the northern sky, and were 

 settling in different parts of the lake, 

 ting dark, but I stopped long enough 

 to take down the notes on the birds 

 as they arrived. They were all tired 

 out from the long flight and did not 

 hesitate to light. I said to myself, 

 look out for a stiff norther for the 

 first day of November. At this date 

 thousands of water birds peace- 

 fully settled on old Lake Worth's 

 choppy waters. The wind ceased to 

 blow from the south and before 1 

 docked at Williams Spring landing the 

 north wind began to whip the waves 

 back to the south. And by morning- 

 it was good and cold. This was one 

 night that the birds will get a peace- 

 ful nights rest and be ready to take 

 to the air in the morning. They came 

 in so late that the hunters did not 

 have time to disturb them. To see 

 so many birds coming out of the 

 clouds seemed like a dream, and to 

 my knowledge this is the most beauti- 

 ful sight I ever witnessed. 



Ramon Graham, 



Texas, 1919. 



To California. 



Ye editor and his wife hied them- 

 selves to the Golden Gate State via 

 Sante Fe R. R., leaving Dec. 7th, and 

 the editor returned Dec. 31st. The 

 object of the trip being to help cele- 

 brate the 86th birthday of the best 

 mother in all the world, and in the 

 new home of our sister, Mrs, Stith in 

 Hollywood. Leaving Lacon with 

 everything frozen up and real winter in 

 vogue, we ran into a tremendous bliz- 

 zard in Western Kansas and Eastern 

 Colorado. The mercury was 26 below 

 zero in Trinidad the evening before 

 we reached there. Snow and winter 

 prevailed substantially all the way. 

 Very few birds were seen, a few 

 Horned Larks, some Winter Sparrows, 

 Crows and a few Magpies and Ravens 

 and but two Hawks, were seen prior 

 to reaching the western slope of the 

 San Barnideno Mountains. 



The usual winter birds for the 

 region were in evidence about Los 

 Angeles, Hollywood, Pasadena, River- 

 side, Arcadia and Longbeach. We 

 saw nothing unusual. One of the 

 pleasantest experiences of the trip 

 was the privilege of attending the De- 

 cember meeting of the Cooper Club, 

 where we renewed acquaintance with 

 the members and made some new ac- 

 quaintances. The club appears to be 

 in a flourishing condition. One of the 

 interesting things of the evening to 

 the writer being the report of a Whist- 

 ling Swan hanging in a nearby mar- 

 ket for sale. We were a little sur- 

 prised not to see a committee appoint- 

 ed at once to ferret the matter out, 

 and to take steps to prosecute the 

 killer and the dealer both. Unless 

 such offenders are promptly and vigor- 

 ously dealt with the Whistling Swan 

 will follow the Noble Trumpter Swan 

 into complete extinction. 



On the way home we came by the 



