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100 Vol. XVIII A POPULOUS SHORE By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY IDE MARSHES and their lagoons, separated by commanding sand dunes from a broad sandy beach stretching out of slight down the Pa- cific, afforded ideal natural conditions for migrating water birds, and their abundance was attested by sign posts just below Venice, marking the preserves of one of the gun clubs of southern California. Up the shore the low Santa Monica Mountains could be seen, very ordinary mountains in the strong revealing light of day, but in the glamour of purple haze standing rich and reserved, and, behind a veil of mist, comi'ng under the spell of mystery and magic. At sunset the low slanting light illun?inated their cliffs and any ships that might be lying at anchor off the long pier of Port Los Angeles, as well as the rigging of the boats lying at anchor in the harbor of Venice, where flocks of Gulls gathered, flying about the pier and the sky above; and one night the light touched up a party of Cormorants sitting statuesquely erect on the edges of a row boat. Then a faint rainbow arched up in the southeast, and soon after, the Gulls disappeared for the night. Farallon Cormorants were often seen in the canals of Venice, a resort built in imitation of the Italian city, and fortunately for me temporarily unpopular at the time of my visit, October, 1907. As I looked down from a bridge over one of the canals one day, a Cormorant dived and swam about close under it. A ragged boy with a raft pointed to the smelts that were swim- ming around. The Cormorants--" Hell Divers," he called them--" have caught onto it now," he explained; "there are more fish in the canals than along shore, and no swells." When one 0f the big bi'rds came close up to his raft he was much pleased. "One thing funny," he said, "they get up on the bank and hold their wings out to dry." In the swimm;ng pool one of the birds was diving for small water snakes. When he came up holding one, he worried with it for some time, the snake squirming around his bill refusing to be swallowed. When it went down at last in passing it made a big lump in his throat and he wriggled as if it were still squirming. But then he dived and that was the conclusion of the matter--as far as onlookers were concerned. A stand in the middle of the pool marked Deep Water was a favorite Cormorant perch, the birds frequently being seen there preening their feathers and drying their wings, the orange pouches at the base of their bills showing well. When one was on the bank of a canal oiling his feathers one day, a Kingfisher sat watch- ing him as ff wondering what manner of bird he might be, but having business of his own soon flew off to a stake out in the marsh. Now and then a stray Duck or a Dabchick was seen on the canals. If a Dabchick, one moment it would be sitting quietly on the water, the next a series of quivering ri'ngs would mark the spot where it had disappeared. One of the exquisite Eared Grebes, as handsome and distinguished as the Dabchick is homely.and plebeian, appeared one day, with arching neck and charmingly pretty ways, swimming gracefully about and diving with airy ease. As I watched it, its color pattern seemed like that of many other birds well fitted for recognition by those who know it and for protection from those who do not, for the gleaming white cheeks, seen from afar,. may well dissever the