266 FEATHERED GAME 
for their undoing. Few are the hungry trav- 
elers that do not come in for rest and food at 
his invitation. Many shooting clubs have large 
flocks of decoys and elaborate methods of hand- 
ling them, letting bird after bird free from their 
hidden pens to rush to the water when a flock 
of visitors are wavering in their minds as to 
coming in. The decoys rarely fail to bring 
their wild brethren into trouble at last, and, like 
humanity, the geese thus trained seem to enjoy 
their mean trade. 
The full grown Canada Goose is a most 
worthy bird: the largest return for his powder 
and shot that comes to the average sportsman. 
A Goose of ordinary size will weigh eight 
pounds, and occasionally old ‘‘honkers’’ are 
brought to bag which will tip the scales at 
twelve or fourteen pounds. Nor is the bold fel- 
low to be despised at the table, for his fiesh is 
of good flavor, and unless the subject is too 
long experienced in the ways of the world, the 
meat is nice and tender. Surely they are as 
good for all ordinary purposes as any of the 
breeds now found in the farmer’s barnyard, 
and the wonder is that more have not been do- 
mesticated. 
