THE CANADA GOOSE. 67 
pause and hover, half suspicious—they are alarmed, they 
seem about to turn. Oh! most exciting instant. 
“ Aw-unk! aw-unk!” E-e—awnk!” That admirable 
mimicry has now succeeded. They are decided—they 
wheel—stoop—now—now—he can see their very eyes. 
Up goes the heavy gun, and the loud roar, that harbin- 
gers the flight of five oz. of BB, is as the knell to the 
leading gander, and three that fly the next behind him. 
Up starts the ambushed enemy, seizes his second piece, 
sights it almost by instinct, and the flash and the roar 
are simultaneous—and, “ By Heaven! it snows Geese!” 
as I once heard old Jesse shout at Barnegat, on a day 
when, with a trusty comrade, we slew us twenty Geese, 
and well on to a hundred Black Duck, Scaup, and Brent 
Geese. If this be not sport enough for sportsmen, why, 
then, turn poacher, most ungentle reader, and earn the 
malediction of all who love a fair field and fair play for 
all things, whether they be fish, flesh, or fowl. , 
Here is a brief description of our bird. Look to the 
wood-cut at the head of this paper, and see if you dis- 
cern his “ very form and body,” if not his “age and pres- 
sure.” Length of bill, from the corner of the mouth to 
the end, two inches and three-sixteenths; length of 
tarsi, two inches seven-eighths; length from point of bill 
to end of tail, about forty inches; wing, eighteen inches. 
Head and greater portion of neck, black; cheeks and 
throat, white. Adult, with the head, greater part of 
neck, primaries, rump and tail, black; back and wings, 
