THE PLAINS 343 



only a cordial welcome but, by information and the use of 

 boats and horses, material assistance in our search for 

 birds. At Scott's we occupied a wool shed within a few yards 

 of the corral into which two thousand sheep were driven 

 nightly, while awaiting their turn in the shearing pens. The 

 experience gave us a lasting conception of the vocal abilities 

 of sheep and lambs, nor will we forget a certain turkey gob- 

 bler who, with a regularity that an alarm clock might envy, 

 and a frequency of repetition it could never hope to equal, 

 made memorable the early hours of the day. We were close- 

 ly associated also with numerous hens and roosters, cats and 

 sheep dogs, while thirteen young Wild Geese were the tamest 

 and most confiding creatures on the ranch. They were 

 hatched from sets of seven and six eggs which had been 

 taken from the Goose nests and placed under hens two days 

 before the young appeared. On June 13, when first they 

 sought our acquaintance, these goslings were about two 

 weeks old. They acted as one family and were followed 

 about by a solicitous Plymouth Rock hen to whom they paid 

 not the slightest attention. On one occasion, possibly stimu- 

 lated by contact with the water of a small puddle, they 

 showed some signs of fear, diving and running in an excited, 

 erratic way ; but at other times, they fed peacefully about 

 the house, displaying so much confidence in man that when- 

 ever they chanced to see us using a wash basin, they all at- 

 tempted to occupy it at the same moment, conclusive evi- 

 dence that with Geese, love of water is instinctive and fear 

 of man acquired. Nevertheless, a single day with the parent 

 Goose would probably have made them Wild Geese in every 

 sense of the word. 



Flocks of from five or six to thirty Wild Geese were seen 

 daily, but the two pairs which nested on a small grassy 

 island at Scott's ranch, were the only ones known to breed ; 

 and here, in spite of the fact that their eggs are always 

 taken, Geese nest yearly. The island is about two hundred 

 yards long and half as wide, and not more than one hundred 



