208 FIELD SHOOTING. 



third of the crop. Later on in the winter the 

 wild geese do not go into the standing corn, as 

 wild ducks do. The former are equally wary and 

 more shy, and they will not go into places where 

 there seems to be afforded a chance to crawl on 

 them. In regard to their roosting-places wild 

 geese are cunning and secretive. They mostly 

 choose for their sleeping-places large, wet marshes 

 and the margins of ponds in big bottoms, where 

 there is open water. When there is ice in the 

 marshes and on the ponds, they roost on that. 

 These roosting-places are generally far away from 

 the settlements, and in places that are almost in- 

 accessible. A few flocks still roost near the ponds 

 in the Salt Creek and Sangamon bottoms. These 

 bottoms are more than a mile wide in some places, 

 and the bottoms of the Illinois and Mississippi 

 Rivers are wider still. Crane Lake in Mason 

 County, a wild, marshy place, is a favorite roost- 

 ing-place for wild geese. 



When a roosting-place has been found, capital 

 success may be looked for. It can seldom be 

 found except by watching the flights of wild geese 

 nights and mornings, having a good knowledge 

 of the country, and using proper judgment. The 

 shooter goes to it at sundown, and, lying down in 



