208 The Water-fowl Family 



and under all circumstances are hard to kill. 

 Their size often causes the distance to be mis- 

 judged. The man in the present instance who 

 is fortunate enough to be in this blind at Curri- 

 tuck on a good goosing day, has had some expe- 

 rience, and he allows most of the birds to keep 

 coming when they once start. Several times 

 since the first chance he has stopped two out of 

 the small flocks that have come his way and has 

 piled up some twenty birds. A large flock, low 

 down, leads toward the blind. Such honking, a 

 bedlam ! Finally, as they are about to turn in, 

 an old gander raises his voice above the others ; 

 something has caught his eye, he swings the whole 

 mass around and heads them for the middle of 

 Currituck Bay. The end goose comes in a bit too 

 far, and with the shot he makes just twenty-one. 



But what of the swan? Tied to his stake he has 

 enjoyed the performance of the morning as much 

 as the geese, though he hasn't honked out any 

 sentiments. On this particular day he earns his 

 salt, for along toward noon three swans, an old 

 bird and two cygnets, see him and come. They 

 don't make any noise about it, but the geese honk 

 away ; and when they are straight overhead a gun 

 cracks twice, one of the cygnets closes up and 

 falls on hard ground with an everlasting big thud. 

 This is a good way to wind up, and the decoys 

 and dead birds make a boat load. The finish of 



