GREY-GEESE 347 



cruise inland, as though to reconnoitre the stubbles, and, 

 finding- the fields still occupied, return to their enforced 

 meditations. But at dusk, as soon as the harvesters retire 

 and the "coast is clear," away they speed in full force to 

 gather in their share of the farmer's crop. 



In several works on sport and natural history these 

 birds have been described as night-feeding fowl — a 

 mistake which has probably arisen from some such circum- 

 stances as those just described. The authors in question 

 have arrived at a false conclusion, based on a half-truth. 

 All geese feed by day ; and although at times compelled by 

 extraneous circumstances to modify their normal life- 

 habits, yet such variations are only temporary and 

 exceptional. They are caused by the force of chance 

 circumstances, and abandoned as soon as the causes cease 

 to operate. In November, when the harvest is completed, 

 and the fields deserted, the geese no longer dream of 

 nocturnal excursions. They then resume their tempo- 

 rarily disturbed habits, and as regularly as the sun rises, 

 may be seen winging their way inland to the stubbles, 

 and returning as regularly at dusk to spend the night on 

 the sand-flats of the coast. 



I should here mention that, never having had any shoot- 

 ing-ground to which these geese resorted to feed, my 

 experience of them is limited to the coast. There, the only 

 chance one can hope to obtain of securing them are on the 

 sand-flats ; and since the spots selected are never reached 

 by the tide, this practically amounts to saying that they 

 never offer a chance at all to the punt-gunner. Rarely 

 indeed do grey-geese alight in the water or on tidal 

 oozes where the flood-tide would set them afloat or enable 

 a punt to approach within shot. 



My brother Alfred and I made special efforts to obtain 



