Descriptive List 89 



ing season. In the stubble-fields of the West, gunners have lurked for them in pits 

 near which were skillfully placed metallic profile-decoys. Soon in the eastern 

 waters of North Carolina market-gunners and sportsmen will be taking their yearly 

 toll of the flocks. 



Yet, despite the constant persecution to which these geese are subjected, they 

 retain their numbers most remarkably. In favorable weather it is not an uncom- 

 mon sight to see ten thousand during one day's sail through Pamlico or Currituck 

 Sound. 



Canada Geese are easily domesticated and often live to a ripe old age. In 1902 a 

 gander was shown to Pearson o'wmed by a man at Poplar Branch, Currituck County, 

 which was generally repoi-ted in the neighborhood to be sixty-one years of age. 

 Domesticated birds do not mate readily, and the man who o^\^ls a flock of thirty or 

 forty birds may be well satisfied if eight or ten pairs of his geese are mated. These 

 domesticated birds are much used as decoys, and indeed the hunter has need of all 

 available aids to secure the wary Wild Goose. We have shot them from blind, bat- 

 tery, and sink-box, and on many occasions have been impressed anew with the 

 wisdom and cunning of these powerful gray-winged flyers. 



"Where is the man who forgets the first time he ever shot at these magnificent 

 birds? I well remember my first attempt — though it occurred more years ago than 

 I will confess. Currituck Soimd was the place, and the blind was on a little reedy 

 island well out from shore. Cold and shivering, the boatman and I were crouching 

 low behind the reedy screen, when a bunch of five were seen coming in. Straight 

 up to the decoys they drove, dropped their feet, and alighted just outside. Spring- 

 ing to my feet, I fired two loads of BB shot as the great graj' birds lumbered into 

 the air — and did not touch a feather. What the boatman thought and what the 

 shooter said are not on record, but many a l)ig goose has dropped to my gun since, 

 and there is no feeling of resentment left for those five that got away unscathed. 



"More and more are live decoys taking the place of the artificial ones. I have 

 seen tried (and shot over myself) the fiat profile decoy, the hollow wooden image, 

 and the inflated, water-proof kind; but a few live birds are, in my opinion, worth 

 a boat-load of all other kinds." — H. H. Brimley. 



Although an abundant species along our coast in winter, comparatively few are 

 seen far in the interior. C. S. Brimley observes that years ago flocks were fre- 

 quently seen flying over Raleigh, l)ut he has not observed any in recent years. 

 Miuiy gunners unite in the statement that the moonlight nights of April is the 

 favorite time for the big flight to leave for the North. On May 16, 1898, Pearson 

 saw a flock of eighteen near Cape Hatteras, a date which his guide assured him was 

 an unusually late one. 



71. Branta bernicla glaucogastra {Brehm.). Brant. 



DescriplioH. — Bvomiisli. licud uud neck Ijluek, the latter with a patch of whitish streaks on 

 each side. L., 24.00-30.00; W., 12..50-13..^0. 



Range. — Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the .Arctic regions, in winter from Massachu- 

 setts to North CaroUna. 



Range in North CaroUna. — -Coastal region in winter. 



