THE CANADA GOOSE. 239 



fowl shooting ; he will thereby learn ..to avoid 

 difficulties, and to take advantage of opportuni- 

 ties which he might otherwise overlook. His pro- 

 gress in the art will be much more rapid and his 

 success more certain. 



Geese are particularly fond ©f young rye and 

 winter wheat, and in the Western country where 

 these are cultivated to any great extent good 

 shooting may often be had. When the ponds begin 

 to freeze over in the early winter is the best 

 season. The hunter usually selects a position in 

 a corner of some one of the numerous rail-fences, 

 or amongst the high " horse-weeds " bordering the 

 field, and, after setting out his decoys (if he is 

 fortunate enough to be possessed of any), patiently 

 awaits their coming. On their approach he com- 

 mences to call, and seeing his decoys they come 

 down fearlessly : those he kills he props up with 

 sticks to decoy others. If he chances to secure a 

 wing-broken one, he ties him to a stake amongst 

 his other decoys, and when other geese come in 

 sight the poor cripple never fails to call loudly. 

 A box sunk near the centre of the field is better, 

 if it can be fixed conveniently, than a blind near 

 the edges, for the geese are inclined to avoid the 

 fences as much as possible. At this time of the 



