MALLARD ON THE CORNFIELDS. 
I he scene before us is certainly not remi¬ 
niscent Or promising of ducks. At our feet the 
golden barley lies where it was cut, and at the 
end of the field a cart gives up its store to a 
growing rick, what time its fellow wanders 
slowly afar off, gathering in another mighty 
load. An autumn sun is sinking amidst a mass 
of color, the air is still, and the sky cloudless; 
we are in the midst of luxuriance and warmth, 
instead of the blizzards and biting winds we are 
wont to associate with the flighting of duck. 
Out here in the open fields there is no hint 
of water; everywhere roots and stubbles or 
woodlands clinging to the hillside. One could 
almost wager that never a duck would come to 
such an apparently unlikely spot, but their visits 
have been noted, and it is one of the certainties 
of nature that they will come again. Yes, and 
this very night. 
Right in the middle of the field is a small 
patch of weather-beaten barley still innocent of 
the scythe; here they will pitch in hopes of a 
feast that will last them almost to the com¬ 
ing of the dawn. That is their certain intent, 
but it is equally certain that not a bird will drop 
to feed so long as the gunner remains unhidden 
within shot of their meeting place. There is 
just time before the light fades to that degree of 
darkness which every sportman knows to herald 
the visit of traveling mallard for the building of 
a butt of fresh-cut barley. It is high when 
finished, and shuts one in all round; the lack 
of head-cover alone detracts from its perfection 
for the purpose, but there is not time for more, 
and as the last wagon rumbles home in the dis¬ 
tance we strain our ears for a still more wel¬ 
come sound. 
For the moment nothing greets us but the 
chatter of squabbling partridges or the call of 
a flighting plover. A hare or two can be seen 
sitting up on the brow of the hill having a last 
search round before they start to feed; they 
look enormous in the dark blue light, and we 
are just wondering how close they will come to 
our hide when a distant cackle and quack comes 
floating toward us. Next moment a dozen duck 
swish into sight and come right over us forty 
yards up. We let them go, hoping they will 
come round again at a more killing range. A 
second and a third lot we let go on the same 
understanding, which none of them share, how¬ 
ever, for they have seen us as we crouched; iron 
horses will not drag them back to the field, and 
they have vanished into the night. No more 
waiting for us; the next lot draws fire, and a 
single bird comes toppling down to the double 
discharge. A solitary mallard next pays us a 
visit, and is dropped just as he curved his wings 
downward. 
For perhaps five minutes the air is charged 
with the whistle of wings; ducks seem to be all 
round us—now passing high overhead in large 
and wary companies, now swinging past us in 
smaller and more confiding lots. In spite of 
the firing, some still seem inclined to settle, and 
a neat right and left is the ending of a pretty 
stand.. But we are loth to believe it. With 
straining eyes we peer into the starlit gloom; 
with ears intent we listen for the music of 
whistling wings. They come not, and there is 
nothing left but the pick-up, and the two dogs 
soon gather the half-dozen birds that are all 
we can claim to balance the empty cartridge 
cases. How many?—but that is telling; flight¬ 
ing. ducks in a fading light are not always the 
easiest of marks, more especially when they 
have their suspicions of a hidden shooter. At 
any rate, we are well satisfied. We are con¬ 
scious of no bad mistakes and one or two 
brilliant flukes. Who can ask more? The best 
bird that flies amid England’s fairest scenery, 
and none to aid us in our work except a brace 
of dogs. 
And now the moon is stealing up to light us 
on our way—fair, and round, and yellow—giving 
good promise that to-morrow will see the last 
of the harvest, and, alas! that the ducks will 
, ave ^, to s . eek their food elsewhere—Judge in 
the Shooting Times. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
Book Exchange . 
Advertisements of old books which are out of print 
0 ? n °, second-hand books, for sale, exchange or wanted' 
will be inserted in Forest and Stream at 20 cents a line 
there are about 7 words to the line, and 14 agate lines 
to the inch. 
805 
3.GO 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
127 Franklin St, New Yock. 
FOR SALE. 
^ Tf 1 j e , r s V/? * n S° ut h Africa—R. Gordon Cumming. 
2 Vols. Price $5.00. 
Big' Game of North America—Shields. Price, $1 9 5 
Boots and Saddles—Custer. 85 cents. 
Breaking the Wilderness—Dellenbaugh. $2 35 
Campaigning With Crook—King. 85 cents 
Early Western Travels, Vols. XIX and XX. Reprints 
of Greggs Commerce of the Prairies; Bullock’s 
Sketch of a Journey Through the Western States- 
Ogden s Letters from the West. $5.50 
h ei PHce T 00 tlng EaSt Equatorial Africa-Neumann. 
Expedition of Lewis and Clark—Hosmer. 2 Vols $3 
hollowing the Guidon—Custer. 85 .cents. 
Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri— 
Larpenteur. 2 Vols. $4.25. 
History of Early Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri 
River—Chittenden. 2 Vols. $4.25. 
Horses, Saddles and Bridles—Carter. $1 00 
Hunting Grounds of the Great West—Dodge. $6 00 
Letters and Travels of Father De Smet—Chittenden. 
4 Vols. $10.00. 
Life of Sitting Bull, and History of Indian War of 1890 
—Vol. I—Johnson. $2.00. 
Life in the Open—Holder. $2.00. 
Massacres of the Mountains; History of the Indian 
Wars of the Far West—Dunn. $.3.00. 
My Life and Experiences Among Our Hostile Indians— 
Howard. $2.75. 
My Life on the Plains—Custer. $3.50. 
North American Indians—Catlin. 2 Vols. 400 illustra- 
lions, ipb. vlli 
North Americans of Yesterday—Dellenbaugh $2 75 
1 ersipnal Recollections of Gen. Nelson A. Miles. $2 00 
Reminiscences of a Sportsman—Parker Whitney. $150 
Eight Years in Ceylon—Baker. 85 cents 
Rifle and Hound in Ceylon—Baker. 85 cents 
Tenting on the Plains—Custer. 85 cents. 
i.J’Tfy Years of Army Life on the Border. Marcy. $2 50 
Thrilling Days in Army Life—Forsyth. 85 cents. 
1 rave and Adventure m S. E. Africa—Selous. $2 25 
Tra 2 e Voi mt< Vi‘,r l nt / r -'° r ,X aTts of Africa—Le Vaillant. 
2 Vols. Published in 1796. Newly bound. $3.50. 
TW $2 t 75 YearS Among ° ur Hostil e Indians—Humfreville. 
Wild Men and Wild Beasts—Cumming. $2.00. 
U onders of the Colorado Desert—Tames. 2 Vols $3 50 
Romance of the Colorado River—Dellenbaugh. $2.35. 
M = ;^v b ° 0ks are in cx ' ce,lent second-hand condition. 
Majority are as new, excepting book plate or owner’s 
name l ,’" s,de cover. Mailed on receipt of price 
Address Capt. A, M. MACNAB, Nogales, A rizona. 
v A ? H Xv A! ' i , I) BOAT SAILING —By the late Dixon 
Kept; 10th edition; published 1904. We have a copy in 
sell for g °$9 d 00 COndltlOn ’ published at * 12 - "h-ch we will 
_ Forest and Stream Pub lishing Co. 
FE AT HEI ^ TALES -By Hamblen Sears. 
Regular price, $1.75; sale price, $1,00. “H. C.,” care 
Forest and Stream. ’ 
WANTED.-A good copy in original binding of “Wah 
t 9 Yah; or the Taos Trail,” by L. H. GaJrard Cin- 
A mi READFR 0 ' Address \ with description and ’price: 
A. READER, care Forest and Stream P ublishing Co. 
LIVES OF THE HUNTED— By Ernest Seton Thomp¬ 
son, containing a true account of the doing of-five 
quadrupeds and three birds. Price, $1.00. Address Box 
G’9, forest and Stream. 
Vt RT e INDE . ED — R y Thomas Martindale, with illus- 
ajJ S v n \ P hot °graphs by the author. Price, $125 
Address X. \., care Forest a nd Stream. 
lUYElV AI ^ D R / )5 ?> NfE IIV THE INDIAN 
^XyGLE—A record of 13 years. By A. I. R. Glasfurd, 
ot the Indian Army with numerous illustrations by the 
Boot. S?. rr.,, ph C l g.‘,S,. f,i ”' AlM ”» 
Camp Life in the Woods 
Slightly damaged. Regular price $1.00; sale price, 55c. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING CO. 
A few shop-worn, soiled cover and slightly 
damaged books. 
Regular Sale 
Gn* ■■d lt» Development—Greener, 8 th edTl W P | 00 
Isdlaa Club Swinging —Miller. i.o© u 
from Corpus Chrlati. i'bo 76 
Supplement to Small Yacht*. 400 l'»0 
Dow (Terrier)—By Rawdon B. Lee 
1896 edition . 5 qq , 5 n 
Modern Dor* (Non-Sporting)—By Rawdon 
B. Lee. 1894 edition.. qq 3 50 
Modern Doga (Sporting)—By Rawdon B. 
Lee. 1893 edition.. 00 
v\ 
in Africa 
The East Coast—Where the Tiger is At Home 
and the Elephant, the Leopard, the Hippopotamus 
the Rhinoceros, the Lion, 
The Palatial Steamers of the 
Union-Castle Line 
Enable the Tourist to 
Circumnavigate Africa 
in Either Direction 
Via West Coast—weekly sailings of Royal Mail 
Steamers from Southampton for Madeira Cape Town 
Port Elizabeth East London, Natal. Intermediate 
ships leave London and Southampton weekly for Cape I 
Town, Port Elizabeth, East London. Natal, calling fort-1 
| nightly at Tenenffe, Las Palmas and Mossel Bay and 
I monthly at Ascension and St. Helena, and proceeding 
monthly to Beira and Mauritius. I 
Via East Coast— Sailings from London every four I 
weeks (Thursdays), and from Southampton following! 
day for Natal, via Suez Canal, calling at Marseilles,! 
1 Naples. Port Said Suez Port Sudan, Aden. Mombasa 
Zanzibar, Mozambique, Chinde, Beira and Delagoa Bay. 
THE DEUGHTS OF AN AFRICAN TOUR 
are hundred-fold. The Victoria Falls, that greatest of 
all cataracts, with a sheer drop of 420 feet, may be 
reached by either West Coast or East Coast service by 
rail from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, \ 
Natal or Beira. 
The Biblical Ruins of Sheba—supposed to be the ruins ! 
of Solomon s temple,are only a few miles from Victoria. | 
Intending Tourists and Hunters are invited to address, 
for full information, literature, and through bookings 
Agencies of the Union-Castle Line I 
281 Fifth Avenue —NEW YO RK— 8-10 BridgeStreet | 
Donald Currie & Co., Managers, 3-4 Fenchurch Street, London i 
THE SOUTH 
COAST MINNOW 
By elimination of undesirable and useless features by 
an exacting fisherman, we present to the particular 
anglers of America a most sane and efficient bait. Its 
rec e pt ion the last 3 years has been most enthusiastic. 
VVe urge the discriminating fishermen to use this min¬ 
now during the summer’s outing. It will add many times 
f° nn lea , s . l J r . es fishing. 4 minnows, 3 sizes, mailed 
oo- Write for booklet and folder. H. C. ROYER, 
33o Wilson Block, Los Angeles, Cal. 
iRIDER AGENTS WANTED 
% Ceiri # n m ; de, «fr 09 
Guaranteed 1911 Models V>#C /*0 JpjSf 
YJ. t )?„ Coaster * Brakes and Puncture-Proof tires 
1909 and 191U MODELS 
ALL OF BEST MAKES.... ip S *0 $12 
Second-Hand Wheels 
Jill makes ana models, good as new 4ft a . ef* *% 
Great Factory Clearing Sale. «0 
We Ship on Approval without a ail 
^freight & allow IQ Days 9 Free Trial 
TIRES coaster-brake wheels, lamps, and 
» mtv •*'*•** Sundries, half usual prices. DO NOT 
mV'a D evej C p°e/fl tl o 5? c “ d offer - Write ”**>■ 
MEAD CYCLE CO. Dept, u ^ .5 CHICAGO 
Lubricate—Burn cleanly 
Leave no carbon deposit 
ALL GARAGES—ALL DEALERS 
Write for Booklet 
"The Common Sense of Automobile Lubrication” 
INDIAN REFINING COMPANY 
INCORPORATED 
First National^Bank Building, Cincinnati, Ohio 
w D ^, Wl ' Ilam Street. New York City 
W ' Fuller & Co., San Francisco, Cal., Agents 
; II 
When writing say you saw the ad. in 
and Stream." 
"Forest 
i 
