22 THE CONDOR Vol. XXII 
with beautiful mass movements. Some of those in the front ranks would start 
up, others down the line following, their brown bodies and light underwings 
catching the western light. Sometimes when the light struck their underparts, 
the shifting flocks looked almost as white as flocks of Sandpipers in evolution. 
Flying up over the trees bordering the lake, they would swing around with a 
wide circuit, settling down again on the water. Once so many rose that the whole 
surface of the water seemed in motion. And still the flocks of Blue-winged Teal 
and other Ducks kept coming from the back of the lake to join the restless 
throng, some flying so low that they were mirrored as they came. 
After much shifting back and forth, the black hordes started up over the 
bank and across the sky toward the eastern lake, winging their way along till 
finally their black dots disappeared in the sky. As I was watching the shifting 
formation of the outgoing black hordes, to my surprise, coming in toward the 
lake passing them, was a white horde of Gulls, as they reached the slant- 
ing rays of western light turning one by one to glistening spots in the sky. Fly- 
ing out over the middle of the lake, they settled down on its surface, presumably 
for safe shelter for the night. 
At 7 o’clock more Ducks crossed over to the east, and again, as the black 
flock passed out, to my great delight, in came another long trailing white flock 
of Gulls. At 7:20 a small flock of little Phalaropes came in and lit among the 
tule islands. At 7:30 mixed: flocks of Blackbirds began stringing along to the 
islands in front of me. By this time the main movements of the Ducks seemed 
over for the night. Hundreds had flown across to the eastern lakes but hun- 
dreds remained along the east side of Sweetwater below the tule border, while 
others were scattered among the tule islands and the western part of the lake, 
much as in the day time. 
At 7:40 the shocks of wheat lit by the lowering sun sent long shadows 
across the stubble field. A Night Heron flew over the lake and lit at the edge 
of a tule island, Gulls called, and the occasional quack of a Mallard was heard. 
At 7:53 Blackbird notes were heard, and a Song Sparrow sang brightly a num- 
ber of times, while Barn Swallows came drifting into the tules. At 8 o’clock a 
few Yellow-headed Blackbirds were flying toward the canes, while another Heron 
flew across to a tule island, probably to go fishing. The sun was now a yellow 
ball on the horizon, the surrounding sky a clear red, the lake a satiny gray with 
soft pink lights and reflected salmon cloudlets. Barn Swallows were still skim- 
ming over the water and running through the sky before settling down in the 
tules, a few Blackbirds were still shifting about, and a few Ducks still swim- 
ming around. There was a soft cool breeze, grateful enough after the heat of 
the day, bringing the sweet smell of the wheat. Above the blue of the horizon 
there grew a delicate pink afterglow, more pink coming into the water. At 8:09 
when the lake seemed settled for the night, a large flock of Franklin Gulls came 
trooping through the sky, passing on in the direction of the main Sweetwater 
lakes to the west. 
The next night was cloudy, with a hard south wind blowing, and the Ducks 
hurried across to the eastern lakes to get settled for the night in the protection 
of the hills. As early as six o’clock the sky over the lake was astir with Ducks, 
Gulls, and Black Terns, the Terns flying about over the surface, dipping down 
as if to pick off insects as they went. The most notable sights were a beautiful 
flock of Gulls that came in at seven o’clock, glistening white spots against the 
dark woods at the south end of the lake, and at 7:45 a flock of two or three hun- 
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