CANADA GOOSE. 63 



will take our position in such a box and see how tli-^y 

 appear as in all confidence they draw near the dangerous 

 spot. The boxes are either long enough for a man to 

 lie down in at full length, or deep and wide enough to 

 enable him to sit upon a bench or plank nailed across it 

 about halfway down. 



We take our places in one of the latter kind, and look 

 out through the reeds over the water. If we have live 

 decoys they are strung out in diverging lines, each bird 

 tied by the leg to his perch or post, oh which is a plat- 

 form just below the surface for him to stand on when 

 tired with swimming. Before us stretches the wide ex- 

 panse of the sound or bay, traversed at times by small 

 skiffs, which, with their white sails, resembling birds' 

 wings, dart hither and thither. Various kinds of Ducks 

 are speeding along in undulating lines high in air, 

 or just skimming the surface of the water, while with a 

 whiz and a buzz, a Hooded Merganser, or Ruddy Duck, 

 or Buffle Head will swing in toward our hiding place 

 and then dart by at a speed an express train would be 

 unable to equal. But moving slowly along apparently, 

 on heavy wings, a dark mass comes into view, 

 piercing the air with its wedge-shaped phalanx. At 

 times a faint cry is borne to our ears, like a chal- 

 lenging note, and the decoys cease for a moment 

 from struggling with their straps, or from preening their 

 feathers, and with lifted heads stand motionless, listening 

 for a repetition of the well-known sound. The flock, at 

 first so indistinct, now is well in view, and the call 

 of the leader, responded to by his followers, comes 

 over the water in clear and unmistakable tones. The de- 

 coys are at once alert, and their ringing notes of invitation 

 are uttered earnestly and in quick succession. The on- 

 coming birds hear the call, and, catching sight of their 



