IN THE ESTERO 



so much of a goose, perhaps, as Mr. Bowles's de- 

 scription would indicate, but readily approachable 

 on the bare sand within a very few rods. One of 

 our baseball pitchers, I am sure, would have 

 bowled him over in a twinkling, and made no- 

 thing of it. He was so stupidly tame, indeed, that 

 I considered the possibility of his being a do- 

 mesticated fowl run loose, a possibility by no 

 means to be ignored in cases of this kind. 



I once saw, though I could hardly believe my 

 eyes, a black swan swimming at his ease, per- 

 fectly at home, as it seemed, well in the Santa 

 Barbara Channel ! He was a runaway past ques- 

 tion, since there is no wild swan of his color any- 

 where in North America. 



Noble birds the godwits are, nearly the largest 

 of our shore-birds, with beautifully marbled upper 

 parts, and prodigiously long particolored bills 

 slightly uptilted at the tip, perfect tools, no 

 doubt, for the carrying on of their particular line 

 of industry. If, as we are told, a man who is to 

 sup with the devil needs a long spoon (though 

 in such disagreeable company I cannot conceive 

 that the shape or dimensions of one's table 

 utensils would be of much account), a bird which 

 gets its living out of the depths of mud must 

 needs have a long bill. 



Whether the two colors of the bill — flesh- 

 47 



