DgHeterae usu b ONS brUe tih ke TiN 3 
with white cheeks, black caps, and perky, stuck-up tails, close to the north 
shore. I joined the proverbial boy of five and his mother from a neighboring 
apartment house. He had a sack of dry bread and began to feed the coots 
which flocked around him, eating eagerly from his hands. The mute swans 
and cygnets were hungry, too, and one must guard against being nipped on 
the ankle by these giant birds. 
A constant stream of visitors came with food for the hungry flocks. 
Kaffir corn and crumbs were rapidly devoured by coots, ducks, swans and 
wild geese. Pintail ducks flocked around, their white vests resembling men 
in dress suits. Mallards began to arrive at the feeding station soon after 
noon, many of these noisy fellows nesting on the island in the lake. The 
American widgeon, or baldpate, was in the minority, but still conspicuous. 
One redhead and one shoveller were perfectly at home in the group. Wild 
geese were just as unafraid as the ducks and crowded close to any food 
offered. There were several Canada, white-fronted, snow, Hutchin’s and 
Ross’s geese, and they would doubtless attract many of their kind during 
migrations. 
Several Farallon cormorants perched on posts out in the lake, flying 
occasionally. Gulls were numerous—herring, ring-billed, and California. 
Forster terns did not mingle with the throng. A few pied-billed grebes 
were noted. Roger Tory Peterson’s guide helped settle difficult problems 
and I found two office girls earnestly scanning its pages, as did I. 
Land birds were numerous among the shrubs. Toyon berries were 
brilliant red. Golden-crowned sparrows, Gambel’s (white-crowned with pink 
bill), English, and song sparrows were conspicuous. Linnets were noisy. 
Brewer’s blackbirds were omnipresent, and another that I classified as a 
cowbird. It resembled the Brewer’s, but lacked the yellowish-white eye. 
Bush-tits and myrtle warblers were much in evidence. A sharp-shinned 
hawk darted through the shrubs and trees making the most of the oppor- 
tunities offered by the smaller migrants, just as the marsh hawk frequents 
the tules and grain fields along Klamath Lake and River, feasting on dead 
and injured fowl left by the hunters. 
At 3:30 the colored attendant staggered out to the feeding ground 
around an open pool with 100 pounds of kaffir corn. The regular ration is 
125 pounds, but someone had appropriated the difference. Hungry guests 
had been waiting for hours for just that signal. There was a bedlam of 
noise and confusion as the whistle was blown several times. Late arrivals 
came winging in. How eagerly they all ate! Mallards were most vociferous. 
Ruddy ducks and coots did not participate in the feast. The food was 
equally distributed in the pool and on the land. Many spectators arrived 
just in time to witness the scene. Some were attracted by the pigeon 
fanciers, who were literally covered by the birds. You might easily imagine 
that you were in a Roman city. 
As I left the lake I wondered why other cities with a water front do 
not have similar bird havens. Jack Miner feeds the Canada geese, but this 
was a far more cosmopolitan group of birds, and in the heart of Oakland, 
too. Great praise is due the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club for such a worth 
while enterprise. 
