84 
FOREST AND STREAM 
February, 1920 
Newton Arms and Ammunition 
THE NEWTON ARMS CORPORATION 
WOOLWORTH BUILDING, NEW YORK 
WdowtmCaiwei 
Quick Action 
An “Old Town Canoe” is as responsive to the 
p iddle as a thoroughbred horse to the rein. 
When a quick turn is needed to bring a bass 
side on, or in trolling by the irregular 
outline of lily pads, an “Old Town” 
swings to the lightest dip of the 
blade. Light but strong, swift 
OLD TOWN CANOE CO. 
992 Fourth Street 
Old Town, Maine. II. S. A. 
but sure. Write for illustrated 
catalog. 3090 canoes in stock. 
$67 up. 
SALE U. S. ARMY GOODS 
From QUARTERMASTER'S DEPT. 
Complete outfitters and dealers in government goods — from an army hat cord to a battleship. 
Our catalog, 344. containing over 1,000 illustrations of articles for field service, camping, outing, 
etc., mailed on receipt of 10 cents postage. 
Army Sweaters $5.50 
Hunting or Shell Bags 75 
Army Gray Wool Blankets 6.00 
Army Olive Drab Wool Blankets 7.50 
Wool Shirts (Olive Drab) 4.50 and 5.50 
Army Shoes 8.00 
ARMY & NAVY STORE CO. Inc., 
THE WAR IS OVER— BUY NOW 
Largest Camp and Military Outfitters 
Sheepskin Vests $6.50 
Army Horsehide Leather Gloves 1. 00 
Army Wool Socks 35 
Army Officer’s Raincoats 10.00 
Officer’s Sheepskin Coats 12.00 
Rubber Boots 7.50 
245 West 42nd St., New York City 
ALBERT LEA H IDE AND FUR COMPANY 
ALBERT LEA, MINN. 
Manufacturers of Dealers in Hide s,Furs 
food. Being indolent of disposition, he 
catches a crippled duck if there is one to 
be had; and will take every dead duck 
that a hunter leaves in the marsh. But 
when occasion demands, he can exert his 
majestic self. I have seen no more im- 
pressive sight than the spectacle of a 
full-grown eagle taking his toll of a 
mighty concourse of mallards. 
At daybreak one December morning I 
was at a blind near Cane Gap, two miles 
from the mouth of the North Santee. 
Between my stretch of the river and the 
mouth of the same, between Cedar Island 
on the South and Ford’s Point on the 
North, the “big ducks” — mallards and 
black ducks were rafted. All were not in 
one flock ; but in all the flocks there must 
have been fifty thousand ducks, and in 
single rafts there were several thousand. 
Just before the sun rose a great bald 
eagle launched himself out in flight from 
a lonely pine on Cedar Island, where he 
had spent the night. Three times he 
wheeled above the woods on the island; 
then he turned his course northward. 
The ducks, I am sure, saw him sooner 
than I did, and began to rise as soon as 
they were aware of his approach. The 
roar of their wings was so loud and con- 
tinuous that it drowned the low booming 
of the surf. With a mastery of flight and 
an entire indifference to the consterna- 
tion that he was causing, the huge eagle 
beat his way onward. He was looking 
for the mallard he wanted. Finally, from 
a small flock that was hurrying west- 
ward up the river he seemed to select 
one — an old mallard drake. The doomed 
bird was coming up toward Cane Gap. 
The eagle, always keeping above him, was 
hot on the track. The duck was flying 
wildly; but the eagle, with indolent ease, 
gained steadily. When about a hundred 
yards from me, the eagle, then aknost 
above the duck, suddenly swerved down- 
ward, turning over in its descent, until 
it was under its prey. By a movement 
so quick that my eye could not follow it 
the talons of the great bird had been 
buried in the breast of the mallard. A 
moment later, by a masterly manoeuver, 
the eagle had regained his poise and, ris- 
ing slowly, beat his burdened way off 
over the marsh. Far, far through the 
rosy morning I watched the lone and 
lordly eagle pursue his flight, until lost 
to my limited vision in his larger liberty. 
Wildcats, racoons, and minks, take but 
few birds. The delta of the Santee is a 
favorite winter resort for these aquatic 
birds; and they appear to be increasing 
there. Nor are they eager to leave when 
the mystic premonition of the approach 
of spring comes to them. Sometimes I 
have started big flocks of mallards in the 
delta even in late March, when all the 
cypresses are in a mist of tender green. 
I believe that a mallard can travel from 
the mouth of the Santee to the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence in a single night. Such 
speed seems prodigious but the speed and 
the endurance of a wild creature depend 
generally on what is after it; and in the 
case of the wildfowl we are considering, 
grim Winter is after them when they go 
southward; and love and mating are be 
fore them when they journey northward. 
They are, we may say, driven to the 
South, and are lured back to the Nor+K 
