Jan. 12, 1901.I 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
27 
A Goose'^ShootinglEpisode* 
My uncle took a match from his pocket and began to 
light his pipe. The north wind was howling outside, and 
the kitchen fire was being worked to its fullest capacity. 
Dockey had moved his chair into the gloom behind the 
stove, and had been invisible for the hour or more dur- 
ing which my uncle held forth on the happenings of the 
day. 
From time immemorial Dockey had occupied the posi- 
tion of overseer of shooting gear, and as might be ex- 
pected, was a rather important personage during the fre- 
quent trips my uncle made to Tracadie Bay on the north 
shore of Prince Edward Island. 
Gn this particular occasion, my brother Geoff, then a 
young chap of seventeen, was of' the party, and at the 
moment our yarn begins was busily engaged in trying to 
make a 4-foot stick of birch fit snugly in a 3-foot stove. 
Dockey had kept a respectful silencewhile "Mister Arthur" 
was speaking, but now seizing the opportunity afforded 
by my uncle pausing to light his pipe, broke in with, 
"Master Geoff over there don't say much, but he did a 
purty slick piece of work this evenin' after you left, Mister 
Arthur.*' ' 
"Oh, he did eh! Well. Geoff, what did you do?" 
Geoff modestly replied that he had bagged five geese out 
of six, but that he did not think it was anything to brag 
about. 
"The devil you did," exclaimed my uncle, striking an- 
other match. "I thought that the fly was over when I 
went up to the house. But now that I come to think of 
it, you had quite a load of birds when you came in. Let 
us have the yarn, my boy." 
But Geoff seemed to think that Dockey could tell it 
better, and so the latter was induced to come forth from 
behind the stove to where he could be seen and heard. 
Like the "Mr. Silas Wegg" of Dickens, Dockey was the 
happy possessor of a throat which was "mellered" by the 
judicious use of stimulants, and my uncle, noticing his 
wistful glances at a bottle which stood on the table near 
by, poured out a stiff glass and passed it over. _ The 
"mellering" process was soon completed, and after a 
brief period of violent expectoration and coughing 
Dockey began : 
"Well, Mister Arthur, it was this way. You remem- 
ber you wen: up to the house early, leavin" the big 8-bore 
in your box, tellin' me to fetch her up when I came. When 
we made that last sink, we put the boxes so nigh each 
other that they were almost touchin'. Master Geoff had 
his lo-gauge Parker with him in his box, but he could 
lay his hand on- Boliver just by reachin' over to where 
she lay in your box. 
"Well, I'set up in the bush for half an hour, maybe, wish- 
ing to heaven that the boy would begin to feel the cold 
and call out for me to come and take in the 'coys. I 
could hear geese away up to wind'ard in the Big Chan- 
nel, but thought that they were set.led there for the night. 
I kept my eyes on Master Geoff's head, which I could just 
see over the edge of the box, so that I could run down to 
him whenever he showed signs of getting tired like. Just 
as I was making up my mind to go and tell him that he 
might as well quit for the day, I heard the greatest 
racket up the wind. Somethin' had scared the geese out 
of the channel, and the whole bloom'n' raft of 'em were 
comin' our way. Surely. I says to myself, a bunch that 
size will never come near the spit, for I know the habits 
of the beggars purty well by this time. But. by the Lord 
Harry, they kept a-comin' and a-comin', till I thought for 
certain that the whole blessed lot were going to pass right 
over ihe point. Master Geoff was layin' mighty low now, 
and the sand looked as bare as the back of Donald Ronald's 
big pig. The 'coys M'ere standin' up to their breasts in 
water, for the tide was raisin', and we had not moved in 
the back line since the last sink. Old Callaghan was 
floppin' his wings and pickin' at the new goose Bollum 
sent you from Egmont Bay. and every now and ag'in 
lettin' a devil of a screech out of him just to show how 
wicked he was. 
"Well, as I was sayin', the big flock came nearer and 
nearer, till it looked as if Master Geoff would get a 
fine shot, but all of a sudden when they got within a 
couple of hundred yards of where he was, they seemed 
to change their minds, turned off to the east'ard and 
plumped down in the old mussel bed. 'There goes the 
chance of the day,' says I, for there must have been 500 
birds in the flock. Then I sets down on the log once 
m.ore and begins to feel the cold ag'in, now that the ex- 
citement was over, but keepin' my eye on the geese all the 
same. 
"Somethin' seemed to strike that old rascal Callaghan, 
for he suddenly stopped worryin' the new goose and began 
to call like the devil himself. The gander at the end of 
the line also thought it time to turn up, and he did his 
best to crack his windpipe too. AfJer a little I sees six 
geese leave thci flock out on the mussel bed and com- 
mence to swim in toward the point, no doubt kinder 
curious to see what all the noise was about. They swam 
on till they got into shoal water, about a hundred yards 
from the boxes. Then they guessed they'd gone far 
enough, and they took to feedin' on the eel grass. By 
this time all the 'coys were talkin', and no goose that flies 
could have kept away from them. So af.er quite a lot 
of turnin' round and lookin' this way and that, my bold 
six started to wade in. 'Why in the deuce don't the boy 
fire?' says I, when they were almost alongside the 'coys; 
but never a budge from Master Geoff. I was shiverin' 
and shakin' like a leaf, whether with cold or nervousness 
I can't say. And I guess I swore some. Well, sir, I'll be 
everlastingly dinged if those six geese didn't wade right 
in and begin to fool with the 'coys, and I'll bet Callaghan 
soaked some of 'era good and hard. You know what a 
cross brute he is. But after a bit the geese findin' 
Callaghan hard to get along with and thinkin' everj'thing 
was O. K. on shore, walked right up on the sand and 
began to do up their back feathers. 'Now we'll hear from 
Master Geoff,' says I ; but no sign did he make until three 
of the visitors reached out their necks together for the 
same piece of weed. Quick as a flash the lo-bore shouts, 
and those three geese never knew what they were up 
ag.ainst. Took the heads off them as clean as a whistle. 
The other three got under way in a hurry, but the second 
barrel of the 10 was right there, and one more goose lay 
on his back with his feet wavin' in the air. Master Geoff 
ill^fl reaphefj for "Rqliver in the qther box r>PP?<t th? 
tail feathers out of one of the pair that wa.s left, but he 
didn't fall short, as he should have done. The last barrel 
of the 8 drops him as dead as a mackerel though, and so 
when I gets down to the sinks, there were five big honkers 
ready for me to gather in. And would you believe it. Mis- 
ter Arthur, that there boy was as cool as you would be 
yourself under them conditions, and maybe a little cooler 
than I have seen you sometimes, meanin' no offense, sir, 
I'm sure." 
Dockey's throat seeming to need "mellering" again, the 
special was called into requisition once more, and after 
my brother had beeen congratulated by my tmcle for doing 
so well, the stove was filled with wood and the trio 
sought their much needed repose. 
H. A. Bayfield, B. A, Sc. 
English Woodcock in America* 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
There is nothing very mysterious in the occasional oc- 
currence of the European woodcock in the Eastern United 
States. It happens for the same reasons that some other 
European birds, as the European widgeon and green- 
winged teal occasionally stray to this side of the ocean. 
The woodcock occurs "in Northern Europe in latitudes 
where the distance across to the American continent^ is 
comparatively small, and it is not difficult to conceive 
that birds which have been blown out to sea by storms 
should sometimes reach the wrong continent, perhaps 
alighting for a little rest on some floating object, or even 
on a vessel. Those who have crossed the ocean in the 
spring or fall, when the birds are migrating, cannot have 
failed to notice how common it is for land birds of 
various kinds to visit vessels even when long distances 
from any land, and to follow the vessel for hours, or 
even days, occasionally alighting on the rigging or even on 
the decks. Many of these birds are doitbtless hopelessly 
lost and perish somewhere at sea, but with favorable 
winds many no doubt reach land again, but probably not 
where they intended to go. 
My purpose in writing is to comment on the suggestion 
of Didymus that the European woodcock be introduced 
into this country. Because a bird like a pheasant, or 
like the English sparrow, can be successfully introduced, it 
does not follow that others can. Birds of stationary habits 
can be introduced anywhere where proper natural sur- 
roundings, food and protection are available, and whether 
the introduction is successful or not depends entirely on 
the conditions in that particular locality. 
With a migratory bird this is not the case. I am 
quite willing to admit that the Dismal Swamp and hun- 
dreds of other places in the United States are probably 
as well suited to the European woodcock as to the Amer- 
ican species, and that the living birds could be success- 
fully-transported across the ocean if they could be ob- 
tained. Having accomplished these preliminaries and 
liberated the birds in the Dismal Swamp or other suitable 
place, the real difiiculties would begin. If the birds were 
liberated in the earlj^^ spring, which would probably be the 
best time, a part of' them would probably remain about 
the Swamp during the following summer and might breed. 
In the fall they would disappear, and that is the last that 
W'Ould be seen of them. Their migratory instincts would 
cause them to wander oft' to the South when autumn 
came, even if the scarcity of food during the winter did 
not compel them to do so, and the country being different 
from that to which they had been accustomed, or, what is 
of more importance, different from what past generations 
of European woodcocks have been accustomed to. they 
would proceed to get lost, and if they survived the winter 
would be just as likely to turn up in South America or in 
California in the spring, as at the Dismal Swamp, where 
they passed the preceding summer. The scattered in- 
dividuals would probably never run across another of 
their own species, and would never breed. And how can 
a migratory bird be protected from being shot? No mat- 
ter how carefully protected it may be where it is liberated, 
Avhen the season comes for it to move on, it will do 
so, and being something curious and unusual, will be 
relentlessly pursued by hunters wherever it goes. 
If a truly migratory bird has ever been successfitlly 
introducejd from one country to another, I would be glad 
to know of it. Success in acclimatizing birds has always 
been, as far as I know, in inverse ratio to the develop- 
ment of the migratory instinct in the species. The quail 
is a bird of fairly stationary habits, but even the small 
degree to which the migratory nature is developed in 
that species has made a great deal of trouble for those 
who have stocked game preserves with it. Whether this 
tendency to migrate is due to instinct, experience or 
reasoning on the part of the bird, or to all three, has 
nothing to do with the case. It exists in the case of 
nine-tenths or more of the birds inhabiting temperate 
latitudes, and must be reckoned wnth in our attempts to 
introduce species. 
The nearest approach to the introduction of a migratory 
bird which occurs to me is the case of the European 
starling in America. This species, which will probably 
prove to be a great pest, has unfortunately secured a 
foothold in the Eastern States. Yet in this bird the 
development of the migratory habit has not reached a 
high degree, and they probabh^ do not move until scarcity 
of food makes it necessarj\ The birds of this species 
which have become established in America do not appear 
to migrate at all, but stay in the same vicinity all the year. 
So this bird cannot be called an exception to my state- 
ment that attempts to introduce migratory birds will be 
failures. 
To make some reasonable effort to protect our own 
woodcock would meet with much more success. It is, I 
suppose, on the whole, the most prized of all our game 
birds, certainly the most prized of any of the smaller 
kinds of game birds. Yet in many places it may be shot 
all summer, and even where protected by law at that 
time most of them are killed during the summer months. 
The gunners know that the birds are migratory, and that 
those which have bred in a place or have staj^ed about 
during the summer will move south early in the fall, and 
they do not give them the chance to move. In the South 
I have heard of their being slaughtered at night during 
the migrations with the aid of jacklights. If this prac- 
tice has been discontinued it is only because of the grow- 
ing scarcity of the bird making it no longer remunerative. 
Th€ ie|islatV(r?s of tl^e (iifferent S,tates sh,qyl<i appoint 
committees or commissions to confer with those of other 
States and secure concerted action for the protection of 
migratory birds. It is high time that the sale of wood- 
cock should be prohibited in every State in the Union, and 
the fine for violations should be a heavy one. 
Since I have got started on the subject, I would like 
to make a suggestion that if adopted all over the country 
would do a great deal toward discouraging violations of 
the game laws. If the game commissioners, game pro- 
tective societies or individuals who are interested in the 
matter would take pains that in every case where a man 
is arrested and fined for the violation of the gatne laws 
the widest possible publicity should be given to the case, 
many people would think twice before committing a viola- 
tion. It would help enforcement in two ways, first by 
warning people and making them realize that the game 
law is not a dead letter, and, second, the disagreeable 
notoriety which would result from figuring in a case of 
that kind would be dreaded by many people more than 
the insignificant fines which are unfortunately the rule in 
many parts of the country when a man is convicted of 
violating a game law. 
So when such a case occurs, those whose duty it is to 
enforce the laws, or those who wish to have them en- 
forced, should take care that the local papers publish a 
full account of it and use large type for the heading. A 
great deal can be done for game protection through the 
daily newspaper, but as it does not often happen that the 
editor is interested in or familiar with the subject, those 
who are interested should see that the papers are sup- 
plied with information about game law cases. 
WiLLARD G. Van Name. 
New Haven, Conn., Jan. 8, 
Talks to Boys.— Vffi. 
In my last talk I told you how the expert shot acted 
when he was trying to kill a bird, either an actual bird or 
one of the clay targets that are commonly thrown from 
the trap to give men practice in shooting. I said that the 
practiced shot knows precisely how to hold his gun and 
how to move his head, body and arms so as to atta'n the 
result which he wishes to reach. It is true that different 
men acquire skill in shooting with very different degrees 
of ease. Some men — and boys — pick up the different 
operations and acquire skill very much more readily 
than others. But the important things to be remsmbered 
if you wish to acquire this skill, are that you must prac- 
tice using the gun, must keenly notice every ih ng that 
happens and must remember from day to day what you 
have done in your shooting. Each shot that a mnn fires 
should teach him something; he ought to know where 
each charge of shot goes. If his gun barrels are in the 
line of sight, he will know whether the bird at which 
he is firing, is before or behind the load of shot, above it 
or below. If he misses he will then understand why. and 
he ought to be able to reason out how he came to miss. 
Therefore, the most important thing that a boy can do 
who is learning to shoot is to try to be sure that when- 
ever he shoots he is looking along the barrels of his gun. 
If this is kept continually in mind and practiced, the rest 
is likely to come easily. You should aim your gun at 
the bird just as a carpenter aims his hammer at a nail 
head, and with almost the same certainty of hitting. The 
eyes are looking at the bird, and if the shooter is in such 
good practice that he throws the barrels of his gun into 
the line of his sight, a very slight movement one way or 
the other should direct those barrels straight at the point 
necessary to hit the bird. This, of course, does not mean 
that he will kill the bird that he shoots at. He has still a 
great deal to learn about straightaway shots, quartering 
shots and cross shots, things which puzzle many a gunner 
who has grown gray headed in the service. But if he can 
learn to throw his barrels into the line of sight, he will 
have made strides toward perfection in shooting which 
will carry him beyond where many old men stand to-day. 
The importance of practice in all sorts of matters w'th 
the gun cannot be overestimated. You should not only 
practice shooting, but also every other act that j'ou have 
occasion to perform with the gun. Do all these things 
over and over again, for the oftener j'ou do them the 
more naturally and so the more easily they will be done. 
Did you ever think that pretty nearly all the commonest 
operations which we perform were at first very difficult 
to us and that they all had to be learned, and became easy 
merely through practice? If you and I wish to pick up a 
pencil or a cartridge shell lying on the table before us. we 
do it,' but did you ever see a little baby lying on the floor 
and trying to pick up some object that had attracted its 
attention? It may grasp at it half a dozen times before it 
is able to put its hand on it. Consider the difflculty that 
a baby finds in learning to walk; how easily it loses its 
balance during the first year or two after it gets on its 
feet. If a small child be given a hammer and told to 
hit the nail's head, it may strike at it a number of times 
before touching it. In the same way a boy or man who 
has never played ball will make absurdly awkward work 
of using a bat. 
After you have had some practice in shooting Cl tin 
cans and potatoes tossed in the. air, you will find that they 
are not very difficult to hit. There is really a good deal 
of knack in shooting at such things, and if you take 
plenty of time and arrange to catch them just as they are 
turning in the air, or just as they are beginning to fall yott 
will soon consider yourself a very good shot at marks of 
this kind. When you reach this point, your instructor 
will very likely move you along to something which is 
more difficult. He will perhaps throw the potatoes from 
behind you as hard as he can, at first high up in ihe air, so 
that you can shoot at them against the sky, and after a 
time, as you become more expert at marks thrown in that 
way, he will throw them close to the ground, straigh away 
and quartering, and will throw them as hard as he can. 
You will find that it will take you some time to get to a 
point where you can hit such marks, and when you can 
fairly hit seven out of ten thrown in that fashion I shall 
think that you shoot quite well enough to go out into the 
field. 
If you live in a place where there is a trapshooting club, 
or if your father has a trap for clay pigeons, you can ar- 
range to have frequent practice at these targets, and this, 
if you can arrange for it, will materially help you in your 
jhoqting. It will teach you. (^ijjickri^s.^, re^dineaa xa, tl^f 
