The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1901-10-13
FLIGHT OF BIRDS
EAGERLY AWAITED
BY DUCK SHOOTERS
Winter Storms Will Soon Drive
Them Down From Their breed
ing Grounds in Northern WiIds
W EAR after year the sportsmen who

W EAR after year the sportsmen who
~ enjoy a day on the marsh after
ducks go through the same expert
ences. They bait their fresh water ponds
and refurnish their shooting lodges in an
ticipation of the opening day of the sea-
son, when they can lawfully go in quest
of birds. Their hopes are always high
and their promises of a brace of teal or
mallard made to friends are many.
The result is always the same, and this
year is no exception to the rule The
weather is too warm; the flight of the
northern birds has not set in. results are
isappointingly small. Your true sports
man readily adapts himself to the condi-
tons which surround him and settles
down to await the arrival of the birds
from the north, which means royal sport
and full game bag.
On the lower bay about Alviso there are
large numbers of home bred ducks AS
there is almost continuous shooting there
the birds are timid. A dog moving about.
a bunch of decoys or a clumsily arranged
shooting stand at once attracts their at
tention and sends them far beyond the
range of shotgun. They spend the days
on the bay, where they are inaccessible
and go in to feed at night.
Conditions are different about Cordelia.
Here the marsh is preserved for some
seven miles by the clubs whose members
shoot over it. They allow shooting only
on Wednesday and Sunday of each week
AS there is no continual bombardment
the birds are not shy and feed about the
preserves, apparently oblvious of the
danger to them which turks there two
days each week.
The gun men are all waiting patiently
for the winter storms, which will send
down the birds from the north. 1t is the
consensus of opinion that when the sea-
son shall have ended the sportsmen will
be able to say 1t was the most satisfac-
tory in years.
@ q
ule for the next six months. There will
be a Davis cup tournament one Sunday
in each month until the cups are disposed
Of, and on one other Sunday in the month
there will be a tournament for special
prizes. On the Goth inst. there will be a
class singles tournament. There will be
five classes, the winner of each receiving
a prize, with a special prize for the win
ner of the final. The men will probably
be classified as follows: First CLASSIC,
f. and r. N. Whitney; second class-W.
B. Collier, Merle johnson, H. W. CroweIl
Fred Brown, ]. d. McGavin, Grant Smith
and F. Mitchell; third class-F. D, String
ham, c. j. Smith, Sidney Salisbury, RAY
Pratt and Allyn Miller; fourth class-CarI
Gardner, W. Gorham. c. Kuehn, r. Frs
kline, Percy Williams, H. Schmidt, J. Glib
son. F. Schleef, DR., Lane and K. c. Ham
ilton; fifth class-Dr. Noble, A, WOrthing-
ton, Judges Hunt, Trout and Kerrigan,
George Lane, B. Wallace and B. G. Wood
This will undoubtedly be the biggest
tournament held at the club In years
Outside of the first class, which Is COM
posed of the Whitney brothers only, each
class should put in at least eight entries.
At this rate there would be an entry LIST
of over thirty, while heretofore twenty
has been considered a heavy list, Pre-
vious to this time there have been but
four classes In the club, but the presence
of so many beginners has made it neces-
sary to form a new class,
Schmidt and Gibson, who played against
the Smith brothers in the finals of the
tournament last Sunday, surprised every
body by the clever game they put I'D.
Gibson has been playing only three
months, but throughout the tournament
he drove and iobbed like veteran. These
youngsters will undoubtedly be heard
from in the future,
The successful coachman always does a
driving business -