828 



THE CANADA GOOSE. 



- ifas: .laar/EWsrf-.'-' 



domain, and it is must aniusint;- tn sec the astDnished fowl scraml)le out of lier 

 way as she charges ahout and hooks at them. Such a de])arture from the 

 estabhslied order of things constitutes a quite unclassifiahle phenomenon, and 

 the birds never think of escape by thght. 



Let a gunner come creeping along the ground on hands and knees and his 

 guile is detected at half a mile, yet the self-same birds appear to have no con- 

 ception of a danger which lies below the surface of tlie ground. .Advantage is 



taken of this weakness thru the digging 

 of shooting-pits in the wheat-fields of 

 the Horse Heaven country. Tame 

 )irds or wooden decoys are put (.)ut and 

 it makes no difference how many wild 

 geese ])ass overhead, so llie hunter 

 eeps to his pit until the binls are 

 settling. 



S]iring shooting unquestionabl)' de- 

 stro\s many birds which woukl breed 

 ill this State, and operates to send 

 the remainder northward along 

 the gauntlet of gun-fire. It is 

 es])ecia]ly regrettable in \ iew of 

 the fact that the resident binls are 

 earl\- nesters, mating as they do in 

 Marcli, and ha\'ing the comple- 

 ment of eggs hv the middle of 

 .April. A wheat-fed goose is e.x- 

 cellent eating, and the ]irobiem of 

 preser\-ing some of this good fare 

 for the next generation is worth 

 the attention not only of law- 

 makers but of local granges and 

 other farmers" organizations, 

 without whose intelligent co- 

 operation mere legislation is 

 futile. 



Canada (icese nest chiefiy u])on 

 the ground in water-side meadows, in rank grass or dead tules, in the sage 

 brush, or even u])on the rocks of river cliff or pel)bles of river bars. The 

 amount of materials assembled may vary greatly. .A few sticks and grass- 

 stems will hold the eggs in place on a fiat stone, or a tasty pyramid of grasses 

 and soft trash may suj^port from four to nine greenish huffy eggs, deeply im- 

 bedded in down. In Alay. igofi. we found a nest in Abi.ses Lake on the top of 



Taken on Moses Loke. Flioto by the Authors. 

 MOTHER GOOSE. 



SHE HAS SUCCESSFULLY DECOYED US FROM HER 



BkOOD AND IS ALLOWING A RARELY 



CLOSE APPROACH. 



