706 Field Sports in Minnesota. 



A run of six hours brought us to Swede Grove, where we left 

 the cars and were met by Mr. William Wilcox, alias " Bill," a well- 

 to-do farmer and an ardent sportsman. His two-horse team and 

 wagon furnished us transportation to his house. 



" I'm glad you've come," said Bill, as we drove up briskly to the 

 open door of his roomy dwelling; "for the sand-hill cranes have 

 been goin' for what little corn the plaguey 'hoppers left standin', 

 and 'pears to me, gentlemen, with such guns as you have got 

 along, you might make it right lively for 'em." 



"Yes," chimed in his wife; "you can hear them even now, gen- 

 tlemen. The noise is gettin' unbearable ; and if you'll step up here 

 on the porch, you can see them plain." 



We assured her, while taking a look at the large birds, as they 

 covered the field like a flock of sheep, that nothing would please us 

 better than an immediate attack ; but even as we debated on a plan 

 of assault, the cranes, to the number of several hundred, as if they 

 scented danger, took wing and with discordant cries circled about 

 until they attained a certain altitude, when they left in the direction 

 of Big Marsh. 



I had long desired to make the closer acquaintance of these birds, 

 incited a little, too, by many a failure to stalk them. On the sly, for 

 fear of being laughed at by my companions, I had brought along three 

 crane-decoys, neatly cut out of card-board and painted light gray, in 

 fair imitation of the sand-hill crane. Here, at once, was the oppor- 

 tunity to make a test of their merit. So, leaving the rest of the party 

 at a favorable moment, I took my way to the corn-field, where all was 

 now quiet. The ground had been beaten hard in places by the busy 

 feet of the marauding cranes, and corn-stalks lay here and there, as 

 the hungry birds had wantonly tossed them. It did not take long to 

 select a convenient "shock" for a "blind," or ambush, and I returned 

 to the house filled with anticipations of the coming sport. Upon the 

 floor of Bill's cozy sitting-room, surrounded by his children, who 

 regarded my movements with open-mouthed attention, I proceeded 

 with some diffidence to unwrap the package of decoys. Presently the 

 crane counterfeits stood disclosed, and a ripple of merriment went 

 round the circle, ending in a perfect roar upon the entrance of my 

 friends, who relentlessly joined in. 



" If you think, mister," said one of the plow-boys, after the mer- 

 riment had somewhat subsided that, " you can fool a crane with 



