124 GAME-BIRDS AT HOME. 



geese were very tame; for when you saw the 

 dark line, with heavy Wiff, wiff, iviff, iviff, 

 ^v^ff of wing and Honk-onk k-wonk onk konk 

 k-ivonk of outstretched throat, swing off just 

 enough to carry the nearest bird safely beyond 

 all reach of the threatened danger, you realized 

 that there are some things in hunting that always 

 repay their cost, and the foremost thereof is 

 patience. 



No time for vain regrets, for where the green 

 of the plain joins the blue of the sky another 

 line is rising into view, and the clarion-calls from 

 the center and either end converge as if the 

 whole line were aimed directly at you. And 

 now, whether sitting in a bush or lying on the 

 ground, keep perfectly still. To know when the 

 birds are near enough to shoot at, depend only 

 on the sound of wings above, or upon the metal- 

 lic ring the Honk will have when the game is so 

 nearly over you that it is impossible for it to 

 escape your fire. And beware how you decide 

 this latter point ; for there is no bird of its size 

 that can turn with more provoking ease than the 

 Canada goose, even when very close and coming 

 swiftly toward you. 



