SELF-CAPTURED. 427 



peril, but continue their headlong course, until they suddenly 

 find their long necks inserted in the meshes. Retreat is, 

 however, then too late ; for at that instant the hand-lines 

 are let go, and net and geese fall together to the ground, 

 where the birds soon become so entangled, as to render escape 

 impossible. The men are now quickly on the spot, and by 

 a sleight-of-hand, acquired by long practice, twist their 

 necks in no time: Twenty or thirty geese are thus oft- 

 times taken at a single haul, and a day seldom passes without 

 few or many being captured. 



" Independently of the several kinds of geese, all of which 

 are very excellent eating, many species of water-fowl are 

 caught on these occasions. After the morning's work is 

 over, the net itself is removed ; but the hand-lines, by which 

 it is suspended to the trees, are allowed to remain in their 

 place, as indeed is the case so long as the season for the 

 taking of fowl continues." 



At times wild geese make captives of themselves in a 

 very curious way. M. Malm mentioned an instance to this 

 effect that occurred in the year 1841, at Laxmansa, the 

 residence of his uncle, near to Lund, in Scania. 



" It was just at the period," he said, " that the wild geese 

 were returning to Scandinavia from foreign lands, at which 

 time, however, they seldom alighted and rested in our part 

 of the province, but continued their course to the north- 

 ward. A lofty fence, or pallisade, surrounded the small 

 enclosure before the house, and on this several tame geese 

 were running at large. When these hear the cries of their 

 wild brethren overhead, they usually respond to it ; and this, 

 coupled with the atmosphere being at the time misty and 

 lowering, was, beyond doubt, the cause of what happened. 



