130



J. Delacour—American Aviculture



California, however, has a great attraction for the Waterfowl

lover, as it is a paradise for wild Swans, Geese, and Ducks. Owing

to protection, many bays and marshes are full of Waterfowl, some of

them wonderfully tame. Even in towns, wild Ducks abound on orna¬

mental waters, mostly Mallards, Pintails, Wigeons, Green-winged Teal,

Ruddy Ducks, Lesser and Ring-necked Scaup, and Canvas-backs.

In sheltered bays there are hundreds or thousands of Ducks of different

species: Pintails, Wigeons, Gadwall, Buffle-heads, Golden-eyes,


Ruddies, countless Surf-Scoters (which, on the wing, absurdly resemble

Hill-Mynahs, with their yellow and white patches !), Velvet Scoters,

Scaup, Reed-heads (scarce), and Black Brent. At sea there are some

Mergansers, and I saw a lovely pair of Harlequins; and I am not speaking

of the hordes of Waders, Cormorants, Loons, Gulls, etc. On waters

sheltered by trees one sees some Carolina Ducks. The only two Cali¬

fornian species absent at that time of year, as they migrate south,

are the Fulvous Tree-duck and the Cinnamon Teal. But the finest

sight is that of hundreds of thousands of wild Geese in the Sacramento

Valley : I watched them for two days and must have seen about

300,000. The most numerous are the White-fronted, Lesser Snow or

Cackling and Hutchin’s Geese ; there is only one flock of about 10,000

Ross’s Snow Geese, all there is in the world, and a few Tule Geese or

Greater White-fronted (Anser albifrons gambelli). The large Canadian

Goose does not mix with the others, and is found in small groups on

higher ponds ; it is the only one that breeds in California. There

are, of course, lots of Ducks in the valley, and I saw also hundreds

of Whistling Swans and came across a big flock of Sandhill Cranes

(800 to 1,000), the largest seen since many years. I am indebted for

these most interesting trips to Mr. James Moffitt, the ornithologist of

the Academy of Natural Science in San Francisco, a keen field naturalist

and a great lover and specialist of Water-birds. I owe also to his kind¬

ness the opportunity of taking home a Black Brent, a Ross’s Snow,

and a Cackling Goose.


At Oakland I had the pleasure of meeting several times my old

friend Dr. E. W. Gifford, the well-known anthropologist, who keeps

a collection of rare Pigeons and Doves. While, ten years ago, he was



