296 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



that it was indeed a fine 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 in the morning, and again the same exhilarat- 

 ing sound was heard in the evening just after sunset, 

 causing 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 ever all along the coast. The best time 

 to see thcoe birds is in the evening, when they have 

 been feeding all day on the marshes, and are as full of 

 small crabs and carrion cast up by the sea as the geese 

 are of corn, and when they have an hour before going 

 to roost to spend in play. 



One evening I was greatly entertained by their 

 performance, when the tide was out, leaving a wide 



