MAKING A BLIND 187 



also the wearing away of the ice adjoining 

 the open water. The channel referred to 

 above was scarcely opened when a flock of 

 geese were seen winging their way from the 

 outside ice towards it, and alighting there 

 to feed. This brought up the necessity of 

 making a blind on the ice in their course of 

 flight from the outside water to the channel ; 

 so that afternoon, about halfway between 

 these two feeding-grounds, a breastwork of 

 ice-cakes and snow was built, the floor on the 

 ice being spruce boughs. So far as this went, 

 so good, but left thus, not a goose would come 

 within range, so we took there fifteen decoy- 

 geese, and twelve decoy-brants, which were 

 placed within range of the blind, always to 

 the windward on the ice. Then, not expecting 

 any birds, we went back to the house, which 

 we had scarcely reached when seven geese 

 came flying in from outside, as if on a scout- 

 ing mission, passed directly over the blind 

 circled lowered circled lit. 



See them on the ice, close to the decoys, 

 heads and necks up, as if trying to make out 

 to which branch of the goose family they 

 claimed relationship certainly not to a very 



