SOME ILLUSTRATIVE EXPERIENCES 119 



it has never been my good fortune to make a big bag in this 

 quarter. For years I have tried to locate a stubble on the 

 wolds where a few shots might be got at them in the autumn, 

 but until recently, beyond an odd goose after many days' 

 trouble, I was no more successful. I had full liberty over 

 much of the land in the neighbourhood where the geese 

 usually came, but it seemed unfortunate for me that the birds 

 would select some field over which I had not permission to 

 shoot. 



Long after the season had passed I heard of particular 

 stubbles which the geese had regularly frequented. I finally 

 determined to act on information generally regarding past 

 events rather than rely on present daily observations. Thus 

 it was I decided to wait for a recurrent suitable crop in any 

 large field to which I learned the birds had in years past 

 resorted. I found this by far the best plan. To search out 

 their feeding ground without some knowledge of their habits 

 in previous years always proved unsatisfactory. One spot I 

 lately heard about, and later still located, looked a very 

 promising one. About the centre of this field were two large 

 pits, out of which chalk had been drawn to metal the roads. 

 Five years passed before the crop was again barley. During 

 this time I kept a close watch every year. Now was my time 

 to come. All arrangements were made. An ambuscade was 

 erected in one of the chalk pits long before the geese could 

 reach this country ; I had even gone so far as to persuade the 

 farmer to delay ploughing up this particular field until after I 

 had visited it. I had two guns, a single Greener 8-bore and a 

 double 10. Both were bored for brass perfect cases. The 

 8-bore carried a charge of 7 drs. black coarse powder and 

 2^ oz. of No. I, and, being choke-bored, made a close pattern 

 at a very long range. 



I spent much time during the latter part of October on 

 a bicycle spying out the country for geese, but finding that my 



