. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Buffle-head Naturally confiding and easily approachable in the fall, the Buffle- head soon acquires powder-experience, and gradually becomes the most difficult of all birds to kill. He will not only give the hunter a wide berth, but he will dive at the flash of a gun. He is clad, moreover, in a magic coat of mail, and his plumage appears to shed bullets as readily as it does water. No hunter but feels that the bird is a little uncanny, and he h
. The birds of California : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 580 species and subspecies of birds found in the state. Birds; Birds. The Buffle-head Naturally confiding and easily approachable in the fall, the Buffle- head soon acquires powder-experience, and gradually becomes the most difficult of all birds to kill. He will not only give the hunter a wide berth, but he will dive at the flash of a gun. He is clad, moreover, in a magic coat of mail, and his plumage appears to shed bullets as readily as it does water. No hunter but feels that the bird is a little uncanny, and he has his little collection of stories to back up his belief. For in-. Taken in British Columbia BUFFLEHEADS Photo by Warburlon Pike stance, from the vantage of a river bank and at close range, I once shot a drake Butterball seven times with "4's"—hit around him every time too, but did not learn the flavor of his flesh. Another, cut down in mid- air with 2's, fell limp as any pigeon, but received magic restoration from the water, arose upon the instant, and flew away as though nothing had happened. And then, to cap the climax, if not killed outright at the first shot, the bird will commit suicide by drowning. On tide-flats, with never a ghost of a chance at concealment, we have seen birds dive and remain below, self-entangled in the eel-grass, until death by drowning was certain. This fact is well established, not only in the case of Buffleheads, but in that of many other ducks; and carcasses have been found in the eel-grass at low tide in bays which are much shot over. A spirited discussion has broken out lately as to whether the Buffle- head is or is not a breeding bird of California. On the 27th day of May, 1921, Messrs. Ray, Labarthe, and Labarthe, Jr., observed a female Buffle- head on Eagle Lake which was leading about eight small young, and was 1821. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for re
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1923
