Goose-shooting 235 



among themselves, but when their suspicions are 

 aroused silence ! Every neck is craned, another 

 second and flapping wings announce they are off. 

 There is no alarm cry, and only when once under 

 way and out of danger is their honking heard. 

 The flight is in lines or wedges, the birds in 

 regular array under the command of an experi- 

 enced gander. On the migrations their power of 

 flight is remarkable. All day long, and the dis- 

 tant music at night, tells of the tedious journey 

 far overhead still going on. Straight for the 

 destination, they seldom tarry and then only when 

 weariness or storm compel. Under these cir- 

 cumstances the birds are occasionally visitors in 

 unexpected places. One spring two young 

 Canada geese were seen in a cemetery on the 

 outskirts of New Haven, and remained in the 

 vicinity for a day or more. 



The majority of geese frequenting the Atlantic 

 states follow the coast line in the fall, tarrying in 

 the large shallow bays of Massachusetts, Long 

 Island, and New Jersey, but wintering in the 

 Chesapeake and off North and South Carolina. 

 Those passing through the middle of the United 

 States travel along the Mississippi Valley and 

 winter in Texas, Louisiana, and the adjacent Gulf 

 Coast. 



The approximate dates of occurrence in these 

 localities are : Massachusetts, Long Island, and 



