Show 0 1 jas fival abc ila 9 1 elie viz I 1 4 el 1 oah udor J ale W 11 aa I 1 k m J A 4 f 0 4 i I 1 N 7 1 f A 7 A I 1 7 VENICE is famous for aher her T T j hot but lumen where ibe in the world I 1 Is fi there a city of a B A quarter ot of a tall million I 1 ion ot of 1 in hall to uh eliere hundreds 1 it of thou sauda ads of wild ducks make maka a edh sanctuary 7 ot of a beautiful lake lahe within I 1 the corporate crate limits odd and lo 10 arh where each year yea a hesthal Is held in honor barley of these myriads alid of winged vial list L jud amra answer er is oakland cal I 1 or mecal me cal years you now oakland has ban been tile smile scene of oue me of the most remarkable war kable spectacles afforded eTor ded by any city in 1 the world alm t lo 10 1 the heart beart of the city Is a body of salt bait water lake merritt about a mile and a half h if long and half balf a mile wide there beginning early in 1 the fall vast flocks flecks of wild ud dowl arrive to old find food filed and protection three th years ago the oakland gt government g t out bet aside aide for far these ah birds I a section of lake iler it Z adt or att th some twenty ow five or thirty acres forcing fencing it on air from tile the remainder of the lake by booms beams so an that no boat best could old reach them to further encourage a the them to ill anale the lake lak their win ak I 1 home coro and wheat and limit duin bled leaves of breed bread were scattered on an the sloping lawn adjacent to this till part pan the haq of the lake thus me ench each morning the birds would find a fresh supply of food ra making king it ec essary tor for then them to veri venture tuce outside the protected afee rea 1 ID search march of it th the result lias bill been se n annual increase in th the umber number of wit wild fowl coming calling to la lake merritt antu a now at times then they literally dark en the air it with their numbers two years ago oakland inaugurated KB flat WIM wild duck back festival but this year the event tar far exceeded 1 in beauty and d acobe any t that led hod I 1 preceded ded it 11 ad boata A it pageant of decorated boats on an the lake and a parade of decorated bc orated auto mobiles on am the drives driven surrounding the bird sanctuary opened the festival in the afternoon hundreds of children from the oakland public schools all in 1 costume claim e danced folk and out door dances it ances on the lawn bordering the lake so tarm tame are am the ducks that they are a not at frightened by the children se as they th dance when wh the ducks dark do have base to I 1 move I 1 they hy walk mud and alv 0 among tha youngsters t ere suit and over a their heads head ilk ahle great flood clouda of at ht hugs butterflies As if they knowingly were ere taking port pact 1 in fit the fast festival yet yards outside it the park not at a duck ca can be seen nor could they be approached e van even it if the were amr been arce the they conme come filing in at great h heights e and drop sudden suddenly 1 y to the lake alah as if aware that there la ie safety and food filed own even in the midst of human being A an ordle ordinance ce he has be been passed th d by the city of oakland which bles to in perpetuity tor far the protection and feeding of the duck dogs doga and cats an and ad a every variety of one a are am be barred flom the I 1 carlt ID which the located lake Is 1 located from f the time tile the ducks dark be begin 91 cam coming ng I 1 in until they haw have left in the a spring due us to this protection na an annually Re increasing melting number her of at duck bucka a are now actually remal remaining ning every summer bummer to nest and rear mar their you young in wed reed grown corners ere e ot of the lake where here the are rigidly protected and fed fail all the year round th the result la is that may my daf and june sea bee many families of ducks alk on an this lake I 1 in fit the midst of the best beat residential section of at oakland the young of these theme city bred brad birds A urged med by nature to to return for to their birthplace tor for their 0 wn own nesting the year following their b birth ith naturally increase the number of resident indent ducks on lake merritt until lu in time there them will be b h large flock back of permanent birds to in the city the first duck bucka to arrive I 1 in the all autumn tanin are pintails which begin to settle down en an the lake by the last week eek of august and by the first feet of september are on am hand by thou than sands ad the majority of these como came from the emmath lake reservation neat near the border line limit of california and oregon the pintails are am the moat meet clannish of lucks ducks flocking together in large rafts on the lake feeding together in flocks and parading full up and down the hostile in regiments they are almost a as fearless as the mullard mallard eald to be the ancestor of the duck nud and noun oon loft loae all fear of man aaa the second autumn flight of ducks im induces led pl toll test teals bliok it elera and ad mallard mal larda this migratory horde cornea comes about the middle of october and ad fla from much farther north taber tim than the Klu reach e ril the moment having its origin in that part pact of it alaska known as t the flats fists consisting of beat about sill square a miles of marshlands 1 in tho the vicinity of circle city and rampart As the feeding and nesting dealing grounds become became froyen the ducki duck start southward ond and the it time of their arrival of course its de to some name extent on an the weather eather conditions on an the fin flats this night bight I 1 IB 1 larger than the ficat and no aria helne the bulk of tile the birds to luke lake merritt loiero 1 Is a third and last bight which cornea comes from even an farther north starting 1 in the yukon delta I 1 in A this flight curno come myrada myriads AI 0 shore share birds bird a few ot of which visit sit lake 11 merritt critt hill but the roost most of which hunt I 1 the he mud flat flats farther earth along the coast of cal retain lower Clif california mA mexico and awers central mad south anth america travel ere era in this flight biln to arrive shortly after october ASIA and theu ands ads of them dum go to their favorite feeding grounds tn in the vait 4 machus between sal Fr francisco Andra unit and Sac to this light flight and tile the arrivals and the ducks remain metal on L dihe a merritt no art til if veil a in F february seeming to know 0 by some same physical become barometer of ther their own just alit the ire ice la Is going out in the yukon yoken so 80 that they are 1 safe of in starting northward study of the but barda on L lake sk more merritt 1 m da 7 ts be ahna developed dd borne very ry iter interesting facts lor bar instance Ins lance when the ducks bucha first anaed they were least arrild ot of the attendant who fed fail them and ad findly finally lost last fear of 0 him altogether playing about ills feet and eating call ila from leare his hands like poultry in a barnyard this attendant be haa evoler B shrill ari A whistle at sound ot of which th the ducks from all parts of the lake will J come living at top speed tu tumbling like dives on the van grass la front of him hill to their filed it vas van also found that the cucka men on an tile the lint first day of their arrival were absolutely unafraid of an auto mobile it if a human being on an toot disturbs them when heu they are am on an the land or when an on an the water close to here they are am still not frightened enough to take flight the appearance of a dug however even at a distance 1 IB sufficient to send mud all the ducks resh running to mass together in rafts in the center of the lake tiro the result of this last dint discovery ey te is a new ordinance forbidding the taking of may any dog to in the park during the th time of the f festival EY by tile the time the le festival attral la IN held midway of the season of the ducks la in oakland the birds bird of course coures b anve lost last all fear of human beings either in on an mate foot or in automobiles binm they ire are accustomed to the vints of thoa that undo of men women and children every sunday een during the bag ant bluever houff bo uever ne the log be boom in act across the app upper end it of the lake 1 k remains fal closed an and the boats or are not allowed in the part of tile the take lake ism reserved 1 for r r the birds so me that young ducks duck or those one which aich or ure a new to tile the I 1 lake 10 lo and ad all ali the people may retreat to I 1 the h a em center of this preserve erve and the there to m remain main un on disturbed what first best attracted these theme wild ducks to oakland tor for the winter has 1 never been satisfactorily edill explained ined A AH a general ml rule wild duck decla holmn civilization they seem to sense bonjer ider I 1 mat hat 1 la why the hurt hanter uses deca a anil and blinds in hla his effort to ling bag tile them at first only a few ducks ducki I 1 dropped into lake merritt on their flint way from the north and as they were not net sono autio pd d by the hunters auntre gunshot dogs or other tui enemies ende they tor far the m inter intel tile number lumber of f feathered 1 I 1 1 me has un im retard a each eai until the present tremendous fork under the present federal in tty t ty v fil bird ell law the birds now he have a a chance to ta hom hold their own and even a to increase they to cooperate oPerate hatti ith me maii by taking enery jwj advantage of protection with almoite human intelligence |