82 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI 



anxiety. Meanwhile the little ones bobbed to 

 the surface in a scattered bunch like a handful 

 of yellow corks, saw us and ducked again, came 

 up more scattered still and disappeared immediate- 

 ly. They rapidly became more expert in their 

 bobbing and di\ang and soon indicated their 

 rising only by an instantaneous glimpse of a dull 

 yellow spot in a swirl of cloudy water. The 

 camera was confusedly pointed this way and that, 

 but so quick were the subjects that no snap could 

 be made, and all the while they kept scattering 

 and getting farther apart until finally we were 



The brood formed in line in the same manner as 

 before, but instead of rushing in at full speed, we 

 slowly edged them in towards shore. Here there 

 was a narrow, sandy mud wash at the foot of a 

 steep embankment some twelve inches high. On 

 top of this was a dry flat, covered with scanty 

 grass and sage clumps, rising gradually at first, 

 then more steeply, to a bare hill a hundred yards 

 back. They gradually worked in to this shore. 

 On being pushed a little too hard, the goose again 

 splashed off Seeing that a repetition of the 

 former fruitless tactics was about to follow, we 



"We . . . let the gander herd his charges shorcwards" 



left, with a virgin camera, vainly waiting the re- 

 appearance of the last gosling seen, and there was 

 nothing but empty lake before us with a pair of 

 anxious parent geese still endeavouring to decoy 

 us away — but from a safer distance and with 

 considerably less recklessness. We withdrew 

 rather crestfallen, but before we lost sight of them 

 we could see that the little family was reunited 

 and making for the gra.s.sy marsh where there was 

 cover for young gee,se and safety from motor boats. 



This was interesting of course as a demonstra- 

 tion of the ability of the young to scatter and 

 hide on the open lake, but, except for the first 

 line-formation with the long conspicuous parental 

 necks prone on the water, not different from the 

 actions of any of the ducks under similar circum- 

 stances. 



Foiled m obtaining photographs this time, when 

 we discovered another similar family a few min- 

 utes later, we resorted to more cautious tactics. 



paused and let the gander herd his charges shore- 

 wards. They landed and climbed the bank, the 

 gander leading, erect to his fullest extent and 

 honking loudly, calling to us to follow. The 

 brood came close after him. In the meantime, 

 the goose, which had fiist left towards the right, 

 had desisted from her exertions to lead us in that 

 direction and had circled about us, and now 

 appeared approaching the shore at our right 

 where she also landed and occasionally answered 

 her mate. The youngsters, toddling after the 

 gander, at the first short grassy cover suddenly 

 changed their course at right angles and with it 

 their mode of travel. Hitherto openly intent only 

 on speed, without any attempt to hide, now with 

 heads low and sinuous movement, they moused 

 through the scanty herbage, taking advantage of 

 every little grassy clump, and so just could be 

 seen, glinting through the dull shadows in the 

 sere yellow background. They followed parallel 



