The Pintail 



"choppy sea," under the supervision of an anxious mother. The little 

 fellows made off in splendid form, and were soon lost to view across the 

 stormy water. We could not possibly have captured them, even if we 

 had been mischievously disposed. But the mother was not satisfied, 

 and she spent the ensuing fifteen minutes entertaining us, chiefly by pa- 

 rading back and forth before our eyes, "crossing our bows" repeatedly, 

 at distances ranging from a hundred feet down to thirty or forty. Of 

 course this was nuts to the photographer, especially as it was down sun ; 

 and we profited ten plates' worth. 



Of the behavior of Pintails under gun-fire, I have no exact information 

 or curiosity. I only know that the "Sprig" is among the wariest of ducks, 

 and also one of the most confiding. The difference between the two ex- 

 tremes is a gun-shot. The portraits on page 1786 are those of perfectly 

 wild birds who enjoy "King's Ex" at Stow Lake. On the protected areas 

 near Santa Barbara the birds do no more than trouble to get out of the 





%x 



Taken in Santa Barbara 

 Photo by the Author 



"SPRIGS" 



way of a wading photographer. Yet in all probability some of these birds 

 travel 150 miles each way to obtain food nightly. Indeed, they may 

 travel much farther than that, for at certain seasons the Pintails quit our 

 ponds at three o'clock in the afternoon, and do not return till nine in the 

 morning. Perhaps they have spent the night in the wheat-fields of the 

 Sacramento Valley, and are willing to pay such a price for a short day's 

 rest. 



When protection was withdrawn, temporarily, from Laguna Blanca, 

 I have seen the tired birds rise at the first alarm, and settle in the kelp- 

 beds off the shore of Hope Ranch. Each in a quiet area, where the out- 



1795 



