WILD-GOOSE SHOOTING 151 



quantities of barley, which lies shelled out on the ground 

 at the end of October. It is seldom that they visit the 

 wheat stubbles, although they are probably quite as fond 

 of wheat as of barley. Possibly the wheat stubbles, 

 being so hard and sharp, prick their feet, and they are 

 therefore unable to walk on them. Oftentimes (Mr. 

 Napier says), he has seen them settle on a wheat stubble 

 and spring up again immediately as if they had alighted 

 on hot coals. 



At Holkham the geese make tracks from the sand- 

 bars for the uplands at daybreak, and, if unmolested, 

 they remain there until late in the afternoon. They then 

 return to the large sandbars, which extend for miles 

 between Holkham and Blakeney, and, if there is no 

 moon, roost in these places all night. On moonlight 

 nights, however, they may often be heard coming inland 

 shortly after dusk, but they never do so on dark nights. 

 Towards the end of November, having eaten up all the 

 food on the uplands, they turn their attention to the 

 Holkham marshes, although some parties still continue 

 to visit their old haunts. These marshes constitute 

 their chief feeding-grounds thenceforward until their 

 departure in the spring. To watch these grand birds on 

 a stormy winter's morning at daybreak, flock after flock 

 passing through the middle of the marshes, uttering 

 their wild music an apparently endless and never-ceasing 

 stream of birds is a sight well worth witnessing. 



Alluding to the habits of the pink-footed geese in 

 East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, a writer in 

 the columns of the 'Field' newspaper, in 1893, drew 

 attention to the decided preference which these geese 



