THE CANADA GOOSE. 67 



pause and hover, half suspicious they are alarmed, they 

 seeni about to turn. Oh ! most exciting instant. 



"Aw-unk! aw-unk!" E-e awnk!" That admirable 

 mimicry has now succeeded. They are decided they 

 wheel stoop now now he can see their very eyes. 

 Up goes the heavy gun, and the loud roar, that harbin- 

 gers- the flight of five oz. of BB, is as the knell to the 

 leading gander, and three that fly the next behind him. 

 Up starts the ambushed enemy, seizes his second piece, 

 sights it almost by instinct, and the flash and the roar 

 are simultaneous and, " By Heaven ! it snows Geese !" 

 as I once heard old Jesse shout at Barnegat, on a day 

 when, with a trusty comrade, we slew us twenty Geese, 

 and well on to a hundred Black Duck, Scaup, and Brent 

 Geese. If this be not sport enough for sportsmen, why, 

 then, turn poacher, most ungentle reader, and earn the 

 malediction of all who love a fair field and fair play for 

 all things, whether they be fish, flesh, or fowl. 



Here is a brief description of our bird. Look to the 

 wood-cut at the head of this paper, and see if you dis- 

 cern his " very form and body," if not his " age and pres- 

 sure." Length of bill, from the corner of the mouth to. 

 the end, two inches and three-sixteenths; length of 

 tarsi, two inches seven-eighths; length from point of bill 

 to end otail, about forty inches ; wing, eighteen inches. 

 Head and greater portion of neck, black ; cheeks and 

 throat, white. Adult, with the head, greater part of 

 neck, primaries, rump and tail, black ; back and wings, 



