774 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 14, 1910. 
round their margins on weeds, frogs and what¬ 
ever it can pick up. It wades in the water, but 
never goes beyond the depth of its leg, unless 
wounded in the wing, when it *vill swim strong¬ 
ly. Our first lake had on two sides a protect¬ 
ing bank and there was a scanty growth of 
stunted bushes round the same sides, but the 
gray goose is far too cautious to be caught feed¬ 
ing or sleeping in such approachable spots. From 
our past experiences we knew well that if there 
were any geese at this lake, they would be out 
on the broad, shallow mudflat at its further end. 
There was absolutely no cover at that end and 
it was impossible to get within range of the 
birds without them seeing us. We were using 
shotguns, loaded with BB and No. 3 shot. My 
two mates pinned their fate to the heavy shot, 
while I was using the same shot that I use for 
either rabbits, hares or ducks. 
It was agreed that Harry was to sacrifice his 
chance and go round ahd put up the geese, while 
George and I were to hide at the opposite end 
of the dam across which the geese were ex¬ 
pected to fly, so Harry went off on a long de¬ 
tour to get behind the geese. They are so keen 
in the sight that no risks must be taken in this 
respect. We crawled to our stations and had 
a preliminary peep through the bushes. To our 
great satisfaction we could see on the far side 
about 400 yards away a fairly large flock of 
geese. They were scattered over the mud, some 
eating and others apparently asleep. While we 
were watching, a subdued quack-quack close to 
us warned us that there were ducks near us that 
must not be disturbed. If the ducks got up, the 
geese were certain to follow, and goodness knows 
in which direction they would go if put up in 
that way. It seemed an eternity before Harry 
got behind the geese. All was again silent. We 
did not dare even to smoke, in case the noise of 
the match or the light put up a duck. Presently, 
however, the warning and never-to-be-mistaken 
“quork” of the gray goose was heard. They 
had seen something. Peering through the bushes, 
I could see that the whole flock were alarmed. 
Most of them were standing upright, with their 
heads craned toward where Harry was approach¬ 
ing. We' could not see him, but the geese evi¬ 
dently could. I knew that he could not get much 
closer without putting them up, so we both got 
ready. 
Presently, with a louder “quork,” two of the 
geese got up. The others followed instantly, 
and luckily the string came right down the lake 
and straight toward us. As they reached the 
bush-fringed bank, they rose a little higher and 
were then about fifty feet in the air. As it is 
useless to fire at the geese when they are ap¬ 
proaching you, on account of the shot glancing 
harmlessly off their feathers, I waited until they 
were straight overhead. To my astonishment, 
however, George’s two barrels rang out. The 
geese swerved, but none fell'. Then I aimed and 
fired, dropping both barrels in quick succession 
into the same bird. Over it toppled, hitting the 
ground with a heavy thud. The geese were a 
fairly long shot, and in these cases it is safest 
to go for the one bird. Trying for two often 
results in not getting any. George joined me 
very disgustedly, as neither of his shots had 
been successful. Warning him of the foolish¬ 
ness of firing at approaching birds, we joined 
Harry, who had not emptied his gun, and re¬ 
turned to our camp. It was just midnight and 
we curled ourselves up in our rugs to sleep 
until daylight. 
Just before dawn I woke all hands. There 
was no time to make tea, so filling a pocket each 
with biscuits, we set off in the dark. I knew the 
way, and soon reached one point of the rendez¬ 
vous. This was a smaller lake to which the 
geese often came in the early morning. Harry 
and George were both stationed there and I 
hurried to a lagoon a mile further on. By the 
time I got to my station the dawn was just 
breaking. There were no geese to be seen then, 
but I was hardly comfortably seated when I saw 
a gazzle of about twenty coming straight to me. 
Lower and lower they dropped, until they pitched 
on to a bit of marsh, on which the grass was 
short, about one hundred yards in front of me. 
There was no way of getting closer and my only 
chance was to wait and let them feed in. They 
were feeding my way and came in a lot quicker 
than I expected. Peering through the reeds I 
saw a fine goose well within range. Without 
waiting to see any more I got my gun up. The 
slight noise attracted the attention of the goose 
and caused it to raise its head. As it did so I 
fired and the goose dropped, struggling on the 
grass. The rest were up at once and I gave 
them the second barrel, but without any apparent 
effect. Then I saw that the lot were off to the 
lake, at which Harry and George were waiting. 
They would hear my shot, of course, and be pre¬ 
pared. This lake was only about a mile away 
and I could see it quite plainly, so I stood and 
watched. I saw the geese drop gradually as they 
got to it, then I saw them swing up, but heard 
no shot. As I was wondering what on earth 
they were doing, I saw a goose drop. Evidently 
one of them had fired, but the wind, which had 
sprung up again at dawn, had carried the sound 
away. 
There was no chance now of getting any more 
until evening, as it was broad daylight. In the 
day time the geese usually get out on open grassy 
spots where it is impossible to get near them, 
so we set off for our camp. By the time we got 
there it was well on to mid-day, and we were 
all ready for lunch. After lunch came a smoke 
and a spell under a clump of eucalyptus trees. 
As we had been up most of the night and had 
done a lot of walking, we were all tired, and it 
was. not surprising that in a few minutes we 
were all sound asleep. It was so quiet and cool 
that there is no knowing how long we would 
have slept bad not a crack like a pistol shot 
brought us all to our feet with a jump. A 
station boundary-rider had ridden up to our 
camp and had given the bush equivalent to a 
knock at the door by cracking his sixteen-foot 
stockwhip. As these whips, in expert hands, 
crack like a shot from a rifle, they can be de¬ 
pended upon to attract attention. It was then 
4 o’clock, and after a yarn with our visitor, we 
made tea and prepared for our last sortie. 
This time we separated again and hid at two 
lagoons which we expected the geese to visit 
that night. I was in luck’s way this time. A 
flock of about a dozen geese came flying gently 
right over me and so close that I went for two 
birds. My aim was all right—it would have 
been hard, indeed, to miss them—and two plump 
birds fell into the rushes. The rest flew off 
madly, but they did not go toward Harry and 
George. As it was still early, I hid again. For 
a couple of hours there was no sound of any¬ 
thing and I was half dozing when I suddenly 
heard the well-known “quork.” Looking care¬ 
fully out I saw that about thirty geese had 
pitched on to a marshy depression about one 
hundred yards in front of me. Unfortunately 
they were not feeding toward me, but were 
going across my front. It happened, however, 
that there was a patch of scrub on that side, 
and if I could get to the far end of it I was 
certain of some sort of a shot. By crawling on 
my stomach I managed this, and dirty and 
breathless I peered through the bushes to locate 
my prey. There they were, about forty yards 
out. The moon was shining brilliantly as I 
drew a bead on a fine big bird and fired. Over 
he went, kicking violently, and I emptied my 
second into another just as it rose. He kept on, 
but as I sat watching them fly away, 4 saw one 
bird gradually drop lower, until it came to the 
earth about a mile away. I marked the spot as 
well as I could, gathered my one goose and set 
off to look for the other. This sort of a search 
is always very difficult, especially at night time, 
and I was not very hopeful. But, after about 
half an hour’s search, I came across the goose, 
stone dead. 
I set off then to hunt up Harry and George. 
Not a goose had come near them and they were 
very disconsolate, but cheered up on seeing my 
four. It was now midnight and we decided to 
make for camp. Arriving there, we cleaned our 
geese and dusted them with pepper, as the 
weather promised to be warm. Then we turned 
in. We were up at seven next morning, and 
after a solid breakfast, set off on our fifty-mile 
drive home. Australis. 
Belling the Dog. 
Hendersonville, N. C., May 1.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: In reply to the suggestion in 
Forest and Stream of April 23 that the house 
cat should be belled as a protection to birds, 
C. A. S. a week later speaks of a cat he knew 
that killed his birds just the same with the bell. 
The cat is too cunning an animal to let the 
bell ring. He moves too quietly for any kind 
of noise to go with him. Over thirty years ago 
I adopted the use of a little bell hung to my 
pointer or setter’s collar when I went to the 
woods grouse shooting. 
I was told it would frighten the birds, but 
found my dog could creep- within a few feet of 
a grouse or any number of them. 
My object was to be able in the thickets to 
locate my dog by sound. When the bell stopped 
I quietly gave the dog the command to “heed.” 
If he had merely stopped to locate me he would 
go on when he heard my voice, but if birds were 
found he remained quiet, except for a slight 
tinkle of the little bell that I might locate him. 
That is still my practice, and I now have a 
young Irish bitch fourteen months old already 
trained to her little bell. 
Ernest L. Ewbank. 
[Bells have been used on dogs in thick cover 
probably for a good while longer than any liv¬ 
ing man can remember. We never heard that 
their use tended to make birds wild, and do not 
believe that belling the cat would be an efficient 
preventive of bird destruction. The bell, we 
think, would not be heard. —Editor.] 
