244 BIRDS 



country where these once abundant game birds have been 

 hunted to extinction. 



From the West and the North sportsmen follow the ducks 

 into the lower Mississippi Valley region and our Southern 

 seaboard states, where the majority winter. Widgeons 

 and black ducks often associate with them there. The 

 canvasback, the red-head, the black duck, the teals and the 

 mallard, while counted greater delicacies, by no means at- 

 tract the exclusive attention of the pot hunter when pintails 

 are in sight. Given a good cook and a young, fat, tender 

 duck, even Macaulay's school-boy could tell the result. 



It is an amusing sight to see a flock of drakes feeding in 

 autumn, when they chiefly live apart by themselves. 

 Tipping the fore part of their bodies downward whfle, 

 with their long necks distended, they probe the muddy 

 bottoms of the lake for theivegetable matter and low animal 

 forms they feed upon, their long tails stand erect above the 

 surface like so many bulrushes growing in the water. They 

 seem able to stand on their heads in this fashion in- 

 definitely; a spasmodic working of their feet in the air from 

 time to time testifying only to the difficulty a bird may be 

 having to loosen some much-desired root. 



The Herring Gull 



Length — ^24 to 25 inches. 



Male and Female — In summer: Mantle over back and 

 wings deep pearl gray, head, tail, and under parts white. 

 Outer feathers of wings chiefly black, with rounded 

 white spots near the tips. In winter: Similar to summer 

 plumage, but with grayish streaks or blotches about the 

 head and neck. 



