256 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



though the previous week had been warm enough for sum- 

 mer clothing. 



As I am about to say so much on mallard-shooting, and 

 the advice I will give the sportsman in reference to their 

 pursuit being equally applicable to the Canada goose, I 

 trust the reader will pardon my not farther extending my 

 remarks. 



BKENT GEESE are well known in the United Kingdom, 

 yet they are comparatively scarce among us in numbers, 

 when compared to the immense flocks that are to be found 

 in autumn and spring scattered all over the Western prairies, 

 or in winter and early spring along the Atlantic sea-board of 

 the United States. From their size the novice will fre- 

 quently mistake them for wild geese, but a little experience 

 will soon teach him that there is a marked difference in their 

 flap of wing, and in the figures they form while in flight. 

 Again, the large white marking on the lower portion of the 

 breast and along the stomach, conspicuous for a great dis- 

 tance, soon tells the tale that they are not the more coveted 

 larger species. 



Another characteristic of this species is, that they are far 

 less wary than geese, and appear to be gifted with such an 

 amount of curiosity, that even when they are almost out of 

 sight of the sportsman they may frequently be recalled 

 within gunshot by waving a pocket-handkerchief, or in- 

 ducing your retriever to run about after sticks, provided 

 always that the shooter is out of sight. 



I remember such a circumstance occurring to me while 

 on the lower portion of the Chesapeake Bay, State of Mary- 

 land. In the society of a veteran wild-fowl shooter, I start- 

 ed one bitterly cold morning to shoot wild fowl at a place 

 most appropriately designated the Mussel-hole. From sun- 

 rise till two hours afterward we enjoyed most excellent 



