The Pintail 



three hundred Ruddy Ducks (i), their saucy tails cocked up in the air like 

 a challenge to admiration, and they paddle or' spatter about confidently 

 like old residents, as indeed most of them are, for they breed here. Five 

 hundred Canvas-backs (2), tired with the night's questing in forbidden 

 areas, ride at anchor mid-lake, their rich russet heads, most of them, 

 tucked under oblivious wings. A dozen Widgeons (3), also near the 

 center, flash their bald heads or answer a whistled inquiry of one of their 

 number. Shovellers (4) are treading their productive "mills" hard by 

 the confines of the nearer reeds, and so at intervals around the lake. 

 There must be 1500 of them, and they are so absorbed in their task that 

 they care nothing for the census taker. A handsome Bufflehead (5) 

 wings light-heartedly from a distant spot and settles with a splash within 

 easy range. Careful scrutiny shows two more, females, in the distance. 

 And now we descry, among the clustered Canvas-backs, a large form, 

 a White-fronted Goose (6), no less, riding low and trying to look incon- 

 spicuous. He need not be afraid ; we have seen two other species of Geese 

 here, and once a wild Swan. Lesser Scaups (7), a few, say fifty, mingle 

 also with the Canvas-backs and proclaim their kinship by their "canvas" 

 sides. We have come now to that portion of the lake where a little com- 

 pany of Ring-necked Ducks (8), seven of them, are pretty sure to be 

 napping on a little ... . . _.. ................ ..-..., r 



cove. The "bird- 

 sharps" at Berkeley 

 say that they are very 

 scarce, and they have 

 the California records 

 duly numbered, — one, 

 two, three, up to four- 

 teen. But bless us: 

 here they are year 

 after year, as sure as 

 ■ — protection. The 

 nearer tules are so 

 high, we cannot see 

 what lurks about their 

 deeply submerged 

 bases; but we can see 

 suggestive forms and 

 catch telltale flashes of 

 color upon the oppo- 

 site side of the lake, 

 where the ducks are 



Taken in Oregon 



YOUNG PINTAILS 



Photo by Bohlman and Finley 



I 7 8 9 



