CHAPTEE XII. 



FLIGHT SHOOTING ON GRAND PRAIRIE. 



WHILE resting for a day or two at MacComb's, Grand 

 Prairie, Illinois, when on a tour, at the commencement 

 of severe weather, one of the hands who had been out 

 collecting cattle on the prairie, on returning to dinner, 

 informed me that both ducks and geese were arriving 

 in immense numbers. Soon my No. 10 gun was brought 

 out, and with seven pounds of shot and my large 

 powder-flask full, I started in the direction indicated. 

 The weather since morning had undergone a complete 

 change, for instead of a damp, mild atmosphere, snow 

 was falling in large but few flakes, with the ther- 

 mometer below freezing-point. 



On reaching the sloughs I found birds abundant, 

 but too wary for great success ; so, after firing a few 

 long shots with indifferent success, I determined to 

 change my beat. I had remarked the day before a field 

 of a few acres of indifferent Indian corn which had not 



