WILD WINGS: A FAREWELL 299 



sky: Ha! ha! ha! it is a jolly life in spite of you 

 wingless, wicked wild-fowlers, so long as we remember 

 when flying to and from tlie sea to keep out of range 

 of your hateful old guns ! They didn't always remember, 

 and a goose was a great prize when one fell to the 

 gun of one of these very poor men; but when they 

 sent me round a bird just to see what a fme bird old 

 So-and-so had got, and "would I give him half-a-crown 

 for it?" I could only reply that it was indeed a fme 

 bird, and I congratulated my old friend on his luck, 

 but I wasn't buying a goose. I can eat sheep and pig 

 and some other beasts, always excepting cow ; also fowl, 

 pheasant, and various other birds, wild and tame; but I 

 draw the line at wild geese. I would as soon eat a lark, 

 or a quail, or a nice plump young individual of my 

 own species as this wise and noble bird. 



The cries of the geese going inland to their happy 

 feeding-grounds would come to me in my room before 

 I was up the morning, and again the same exhilarating 

 sound was heard in the evening just after sunset, caus- 

 ing the women and children to run out of their cottages 

 to see and listen to the passing birds. At that hour 

 I was usually a mile or so out on the marsh or by 

 the sea to have a good view of the geese as they came 

 over. On some evenings they disappointed me, but 

 there were always other birds to look at and enjoy, the 

 chief among these being the hooded crow. He was a 

 few days later than usual this year, but during the last 

 ten or twelve days of October came in steadily, arriving, 

 as a rule, in the morning, until he was as numerous as 



