The Pintail 



ping. Here, by the exercise of proper precautions, they may be stalked ; 

 and owing to their habit of bunching closely when taking to wing, a second 

 barrel may be even more destructive than the first. As single winged 

 targets, they are among the most difficult, as their flight is extremely 

 swift, perhaps the most rapid of any of the ducks. Or so the sportsmen 

 tell me. Candidly, I'd as lief shoot peacocks, or trample flower-beds, 

 or do any other of those things which lessen the beauty of the earth with- 

 out adequate compensation. "Adequate," did I say? Is any compen- 

 sation adequate for the depopulated ponds, the lessened beauty of the 



Taken near Lake Merrit, Oakland- 



Photo by H. C. Bryant 

 Use by courtesy Cat. Stale Fish and Game Commission 

 THE FIRST TABLE 



GRAIN HAS JUST BEEN DISTRIBUTED, BUT THE NEWCOMERS ARE HESITATING 



lakes, the diminished volume of wing-music, the lost confidence of the 

 harmless wild things? I — well, I am not hungry, thank you — save for 

 beauty; and as for "sport" — well, now, just what is sport? Is it when 

 all of us have a good time? or just a few of us? Of course, if there were 

 really enough birds to go around, it might be different. It did seem 

 different while it lasted. But now that the ducks are nearly gone, who 



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