The herald., 1898-05-29
LOS ANGELES HERALD. SUNDAY MORNING, MAY y. 1898

Yuma 1t is now cut only for arrows except
when moved with shot by greenhorns after
quail. Out of this the quail rises with gen.
tie fiutter that sends hope bounding high.
He rises just high enough to see you and
get your location. This operation takes hin,
about one-fourth of the time it takes you
to raise the gun to your shoulder.
Should you succeed in doing 1t in the same
game and pull the trigger at the same time
the result would be bit of minced meat,
which, with ] dog about the thickness of a
knife blade. with sufficient nose and pa
tience, you might some day find, but which
for you alone to seek would be about like
looking for your first breath. You need
not be alarmed at this prospect, however,
or starve your dog down for the retrieving,
for before you can shoot, the bird is whiz-
zing away on straight line over the stalks
in way that shows him wonderful judge,
not only of its height, but also of the alti-
tude of tenderfoot.
The first sloughs found near enough to
the river to be available for hunting ducks
were near the mouth of Hardy's Colorado.
This Is an old back water channel leading
to the Colorado desert in San Diego coun-
ty. There Is one slough on the east, just
above the mouth and one on the west, just
below. The latter was too dry for first-rate
hunting, but when full must be very fine.
The one on the Sonora side was very large,
with hard bottom, very safe for wading,
and a foot to a foot and q half deep, with
the finest kind of reeds and cover about
the edges. The number of ducks and geese
in this was prodigious. And the ground
was so large, the cover so good and the
feed or something so attractive that even
the geese would not leave it with half
dozen guns roaring at once in different
directions. Not knowing what there was,
none of us were prepared for duck hunting,
and so 1 cannot tell what the result of sew
eral days shooting might be. But few
hours uproar seemed to have no effect in
driving the ducks out. A party well
equipped with boots and the right kind of
guns and ammunition could load them
selves in q short time, and probably shoot
several days without injuring the flight.
Snow geese and white -fronted geese were
very plenty, with some of the large Can
ada geese, and all of them circled around
and settled again in the water In very
few minutes after being disturbed. Ducks
of every kind were very plenty, mallards
belabored the air within easy shot, can
vas backs and sprigtails slid through the
air here and there. while widgeons, sad
wells and redheads kept up the ranks of
the big ducks in good order. The spoonbill
was on hand of course, and the ever pres
ent little teal whizzed here and there with
their accustomed energy. The ducks and
geese were much tanner than those we see
on the California coast. They evidently
come down the Colorado river from its
head and not from the California side.
Consequently they do not have to run such
a gauntlet of guns to reach there, the last
thousand miles or more of the trip being
quite free from annoyance.
Sandhill cranes are in sight much of
the time, and their long, rolling notes re-
vertebrate from sky to earth much of the
day and night. But the ground is so fiat