438 



RECREATION. 



Dick had succeeded in shooting quite a re- 

 spectable bag of ducks and a few snipe. 

 Among them was a magnificent redhead. 

 This bird used to be quite plentiful, but of 

 late years seems to have been supplanted 

 by the canvasback. 



After luncheon Dick was so anxious to re- 

 turn to the snipe that, hurriedly supplying 

 myself with some light shells, I joined him. 

 No sooner had we begun to walk the bog 

 than a chuckling snipe went sailing away 

 from behind some high grass and out of 

 gun shot. Three others got up, and we 

 each got one of them. Presently we flushed 

 2 more, and I just caught a glimpse of the 

 hinder one as he went around a clump 

 of willows. I turned off to work up 

 wind. Dick continued down and bagged 

 another. Then I missed 2 long shots. A 

 little farther on another bird rose from 

 bare ground at my approach and fell, after 

 a twisty flight, to my second barrel. Thus 

 we kept on, I frequently missing. After 

 bagging 4 I decided to return to the duck- 

 ing grounds, thinking I could better attend 

 to ducks; nevertheless I had a merry 15 

 or 20 minutes with the snipe. 



In making my way through the under- 

 growth near camp I unexpectedly came on 

 an open place, whence a flock of teal got 

 up. I fired twice, cutting down a brace. 

 Soon a lone widgeon came in sight, speed- 

 ing down the line. At my first shot he 

 only turned his course, but my left brought 

 him to the water, 



I sat in my blind and watched some moor 

 hens on the farther side and the arrival of 

 a diver. It was one of those days of ex- 

 cessive quiet and restfulness ; every cackle 

 of the mud hens and even the dip of the 

 diver were heard. At length a faint breeze 

 brought, of a sudden, a sound of wings to 

 my ears. My curiosity was aroused and I 

 looked up. Upstream and just out of gun 

 shot went flying a bunch of plover. 



I pulled myself together, and almost di- 

 rectly there came a deafening roar, as a 

 mass of wild fowl like a dark cloud for a 

 minute obscured the sun. Then there were 

 alternations of darkness and light, the wind 

 increased to half a gale and the flight kept 

 on. The surf on the beach roared louder 

 and louder as the wind increased. The 

 air seemed full of ducks. The fun grew 

 fast and furious, and many a sprig, wid- 

 geon and teal made the fatal mistake of 



venturing too near. In an hour the gale 

 abated and the flight was over, 



I pushed my way through the close tules 

 for the path that led to camp. On coming 

 suddenly into the Open I surprised a flock 

 of geese feeding near, where wild celery 

 grew in profusion. They flew straight 

 away, then wheeled and sailed over a hill 

 in such a way as to indicate that they 

 would alight. Around the hill I went and 

 found them as I had anticipated. I tried to 

 reach a bush 20 yards distant that would 

 afford a fairly good hiding place, but be- 

 fore I could get there they flew away. 



Right there should have ended my wild 

 goose chase ; but, no, the afternoon wore 

 on to its close and I chased and chased and 

 the geese flew hither and thither until they 

 eventually disappeared in the direction of 

 the ocean. The sun had gone down, and 

 disconsolately I trudged through the swamp 

 to camp. * 



The following morning I awoke to find 

 the weather cloudy, and a light wind from 

 the South threatening a downpour of rain. 

 As soon as it was light we started out. 

 We skirted the little wood below camp, 

 but kept along the water course where it 

 was possible. Out of a reedy pool I got a 

 mallard and his mate. When we neared 

 the beach we saw flocks of plover, avocets 

 and curlew. 



Separated from the beach only by a 

 stretch of sand lie 2 freshwater ponds, and 

 to these we directed our steps. Several 

 jack rabbits were seen and cottontails were 

 evidently plentiful. At last we reached 

 the sand dune next the more inland of the 

 ponds. As we peered over its top we saw 

 hundreds of canvasbacks and a flock of 

 white fronted geese scarcely 10 yards away ; 

 the ones of the previous evening. It was 

 my turn now. 



While Dick ran to get between the birds 

 and the sea I singled out a big goose and 

 fired. Then, without releasing the trigger 

 or waiting to see the result, I worked the 

 slide until the magazine was empty. 

 Result, one goose and 16 misses. Mean- 

 time the canvasbacks and geese were 

 flying in the direction of Dick. At last 2, 

 4 and then another went topoling down al- 

 most before I heard the crack of his first 

 shell. Jack cleverly retrieved my goose. 



Five hours later our buckboard again 

 stood in front of our home. 



A theater party is a mistake: If the play 

 is interesting, the people bore you; if the 

 people are interesting, the play bores you. 



