202 DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 



they often flocked on the ground in such numbers that goose- 

 shooting was as regular a sport as chicken-shooting, and 

 during a brief period of slaughter yielded weighty results. 

 Thousands of geese alighting in corn-fields to feed have been 

 shot from the interior of innocent-looking corn-shocks. 



The Canada Goose is not only the largest of the wild 

 geese of North America, but also the most important and valu- 

 able member of the group. There are times, also, when it 

 seems to be the most savory bird that finds its way to the 

 platter. One of those times was when a flock alighted near 

 our camp, on the ice of the Musselshell, in Montana, the 

 day before a certain whizzing cold Thanksgiving, and a fat 

 young gander was shot, and beautifully roasted over the camp- 

 fire in a large Dutch oven. 



In captivity the Canada Goose is an all-around philos- 

 opher; and even when wild, he often knows a good thing when 

 he sees it. In October, 1901, a flock of nine geese flying south- 

 ward over the New York Zoological Park suddenly espied 

 our flock of the same species on the wild-fowl pond. Without 

 a moment's hesitation, the wild birds sailed down and alighted 

 on the shore beside their relatives, and invited themselves 

 to the banquet of cracked corn. 



On the following day Mr. H. R. Mitchell coaxed seven 

 of the visitors into a huge wire cage that was set up on the 

 shore, where they were caught and wing-clipped to prevent 

 further wandering into danger. The seven remained with us; 

 but the two undipped birds, after remaining all winter, flew 

 away north the following spring, and it is quite likely that 

 their bad judgment has ere now cost them their lives. 



