WILD GEESE, CRANES, AND SWANS. 217 



lowed. By watching their flights to and from 

 corn-fields their crossing-places may be found. 

 At one of these the shooter must post himself 

 under an Osage orange hedge on the windward 

 side. Then he must wait for a lot to come over. 

 In windy weather and going to windward they 

 fly low and slow, and are very easily hit. But 

 it takes hard hitting to kill them, as they are 

 thickly feathered. When going for cranes, I use 

 No. 1 or No. 2 shot in my cartridges with strong 

 charge of powder. Some think heavier shot neces- 

 sary, but I know they are not. At Mr. Sullivant's 

 farm in Ford County, last spring, I shot twenty 

 sand-hill cranes and three of the large white 

 variety. I had no larger shot than No. 6, having 

 gone without expectation of getting any shooting 

 except at ducks, mallards, and pintails. 



There were, however, large numbers of cranes, 

 and I found out that they roosted near ponds in 

 the neighboring prairie. I knew then that I could 

 get close shots when they came at dusk. . Loading 

 my cartridges for that shooting with six drams 

 of powder and an ounce of shot, and taking post 

 near the edge of the pond, which was from one 

 to two acres in extent, I waited for their coming. 

 The first evening I killed seven sand-hill cranes 



