we were to jump up, single out a goose and give hini 

 some No. i shot. 



The day was breaking in the East and .shedding its 

 faint gray light over the prairie. The dainty colors of the 

 wild flowers, their pale yellows, their pinks and their 

 purples were just becoming discernible in Nature's prairie 

 panorama which was soon to spread itself and rapture us 

 with its beauty. 



And now comes the cry of the wild goose : " Honk ! 

 Honk ! Honk !" Looking up we see a long line of them 

 approaching high overhead. Crack ! go the guns and 

 away go the geese leaving none of their company behind. 

 Down we dodge again and another flock comes in sight. 

 As before, another go of the guns and another go of 

 the geese ; and thus flock after flock fly over us in their 

 peculiar wedge-shape order, but all too high. However, 

 we venture another crack at them. This time one is seen 

 to drop down a little, recover himself, get back into the 

 flock, drop again a few yards, and then, to our surprise, 

 tumble heels over head, striking the earth a (piarter of a 

 mile away. A grain of buckshot did the work. 



The morning flight is over and only one goose is 

 bagged. Now we numch a few apples and take the 

 setter dogs and start for the ganiey prairie chicken, 

 which out here is really the pin-tailed grouse that goes 

 before civilization, while the regular prairie hen follows 

 civilization. The first jjird that is flushed is taken b}- 

 the youngest .shot, my son James — boy of 15 years— and 

 beautifully stopped. The second bird is similarly treated 

 b}' the same gunner. The birds now are popping up all 

 around, and we all get our share. 



56 



