GEESE 271 



dark side of me, and, swinging the gun well forward as 

 he was moving at a good rate and height, pulled trigger. 

 It was plain that there was some miscalculation, or that 

 the aim had been faulty, for the bird went on, for aught 

 I could tell, with unruffled equanimity, giving out that 

 clear call-note of his every hundred yards or so. This 

 rather spoilt the average, but as I was there for sport, 

 and not to make a record in the way of percentage of 

 kills to cartridges expended, I felt in the best of spirits, 

 and thoroughly enjoyed the outing. Still, the geese did 

 not relax their efforts to get on to their sleeping-ground, 

 for shortly afterwards a little party of four flew past just 

 out of range. Having gone, probably, half-way up the 

 island, they turned and came back towards me, but 

 before coming in sight again they, as ill-luck would have 

 it, settled not much more than 100 yards away. As I 

 crouched down in the thick reed-bed I could distinctly 

 hear their conversational notes, " grog, grog," and "sib, 

 sib, sib." I thought how unfortunate it was that these 

 geese had not thought well to come on just a little further. 

 As it turned out they befriended me, however unwit- 

 tingly, for a few minutes later a strong gaggle was heard 

 coming my way, and this congregation, hearing the call- 

 notes of their friends on the ground, were decoyed into 

 coming past my stand, and so offering a splendid oppor- 

 tunity that I was not slow to take. Everything is fair 

 in love, war, and goose- shooting, so, aiming right in the 

 centre of the dense black mass of birds constituting the 

 van of this gaggle, I sent ijoz. of No. I shot hurtling 

 amongst them. I distinctly heard three geese fall with 

 a rousing smack on to the watery ooze just clear of my 

 reed-bed before I gathered myself together for the final 

 effort. By that time the geese had mounted higher in the 



