226 THE CONDOR Vol. XX1 
place I found a pretty group—three striped-necked young Pied-bills sitting on 
the water close together. In a few moments they were joined by three other 
young Grebes, presumably those seen on the previous day as birds are very lo- 
cal in their habits; and the six sat there watching my shore while I was watch- 
ing them. Were the mothers of both broods giving lessons in self-reliance? As we 
all sat quietly taking note of each other, the willowy cry of a Flicker came from 
the woods behind me, the song of a Sora rang out brightly from a marsh in the 
distance, and the keen Pet-er-weet, weet, weet of one of a family of Spotted 
Sandpipers that patrolled the shore called attention to a teetering figure be- 
low. Then a young Franklin Gull swam by, mirrored in the water, picking 
lightly from the surface as it went. 
Up the shore beyond the Grebes and Sandpipers an old fence line extended 
out into the water like that in the farmhouse corner of the lake, also affording 
convenient roosting places for Night Herons. So much at home did they feei 
here that one of them held his post even when a line of cattle waded splashing 
out along the shore behind him. Three of the tall, yellow-legged birds were 
standing on the fence posts one afternoon when I arrived, while in the cove be- 
yond, a fourth stood with his back to a tule wall. One of the row of three, 
probably catching sight of a minnow, suddenly dropped to the surface of the 
water, after which he returned to his fishing post. The hungriest looking of 
the three stood with body bent to the horizontal, staring down anxiously upon 
the water, and as its pangs increased, leaned still farther, ready to pitch for- 
ward. The one on the post behind, however, stood calmly back, with head up in 
judicial pose—probably he had had more breakfast! The Hungry One, find- 
ing poor fishing at his post, left, whereupon the Well Fed One yawned, and 
rising deliberately with yellow legs hanging, flapped slowly across to the de-: 
serted post. What did he care if the fishing were poor there? 
Across the cove another fisherman with form only vaguely suggested in- 
side a bank of tules moved mysteriously down the line. Herons certainly pin 
their faith to blinds! He was far enough back inside his to make it effective, 
but in cases where the screen is too thin, the large size of the birds makes them 
conspicuous. Still, we must not forget the principle enunciated by Abbott 
Thayer, for light underparts seen from below when near the water doubtless 
tone out against the hight sky to offset the conspicuous size. 
A third short section of fence running out into the water on the south 
shore was occasionally used by perching Night Herons, but it was also used by 
the family of Spotted Sandpipers. Once they swung in and lit on the barbed 
wire and when rested started to walk the tight rope, wings up to steady them- 
selves. Some green lake weed, hanging from the wire, cushioned a section for 
them, but when they reached the bare sharp barbs, I noticed that they lifted 
their feet quickly and nervously. 
Besides Herons, Grebes, and Sandpipers, families of Ducks were occasion- 
ally seen along the south shore. One of the families of Pintails seen about the 
lake—a brood of eleven whose small-billed mother had brought them across 
Irom the western side to be sheltered from a strong east wind by the eastern 
wall and its tule border—on several consecutive days were found along the 
wooded south shore where the brood was feeding busily, picking dainty mor- 
sels from the surface of the water. Sometimes they swam behind the mother, 
all eleven woozy ducklings in single file, and once they divided and partly en- 
ee 
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