The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-01-19

them afar on In Night, because eaoh has
some slight peculiarly of formation.
Once they have sliehted, however, and
des idei to pass the winter, they mix
without regard TO ags, color or previous
co nditien. Sometimes in o prairie iook
Of not more than 800 every ariety will
be otserevd. IL 10 curious, however. to
ntts with what oertituds each goes to
e ach when they are flushed. They rise all
at once. there Is q swift hufliing and In
terchange OF position. and before tbs
rand has gone quarter OF mile the
brsnt will be with the trnnt, and the
wild geese With the wild geese. I bis
caste Is preserved on the roost, each vari-
ty floating upon the water. head tucked
under wing and sound asleep, but never
iutermingling. Standing upon the edge
of some nearly landlocked bay the hunter
will see by the dim light Of the stars an
acre or two Of dark forms 300 yards from
Shore They will be Wild geese Beyond
them will be an acre which shows dimly
white like snowbank. That will be
the brant. The birds never roost upon
the open waters Of the Gulf, for the rea-
90 that winter storms here are sudden
and violent, and the wave motion Is dis
urbing. They take their rest either
upon sea arm, thoroughly prot ,cted
from outside Influences, or else In one Of
the numer ous fresh water ponds or tanks
In the hoilows of the prairis mile or 30
back from the Gulf.
IL IL q matter Of general belief among
hunters that the ninrtest feathered thing
which diss or walks Is the wild turkey.
SO far rs mere alertnsas goes. the belief
IL correct. The wild turkey has marvel
Gus quiokness Of vision, an intens, keen
ness OF hearing and Ia ruorbidly watchful.
In sagsoity, however, aud the gathered
wisdom which com a from experience,
the wild goose IL Its superior. Indeed,
this powerful explorer Of the upper deeps
does some things which argue the posses
sion Of reason or. at least. OF wonder
fully developed instinct. Its ability TO
lind It's way year after year TO the same
pol mt over thousands Of miles OF country
is hardly an instance In point, for knowl-
edge TO direct correctly the southwark
flight 10 common to many birds, nota bly,
to all kinds Of wild ducks. Undoubtedly
the migrators shape their course by a.
gantio landmarks, rivers, lakes, noun
tain ranges. timber belts and so forth.
The wild goose does better, however. 1t
travels only by night and weather condi-
tions do not ate ct 1t apparently. 1t will
fiy straight to Its destination, and almost
as far In q pitch black bowling gale as
when the stars are shining and only gen
tie brsezes blow. 1his Is due to the fact
that it Is practically unlimited IL its pow
er TO ascend. IL the air currents and me
THEOLOGICAL conditions IN the stratum In
which 1t happens to be 40 not suit 1t,
an upward. or downward slaut Is taken
Wild geese often tiavel for 100 miles
ahuve an impenetrabls carpet OF clouds
which are pouring deluge upon the
earth. At such times all land m arks are
hidden, yet tbs course set by the hoary
gander ut Il 9 apex Of the does not vary
half a point. Furthermore, it must be
widely spread storiu which hothers the
goose all through u night OF light,
Cyclones are occasionally 80 miles In
dianater, but the goes gang will travel
80 miles an hour when grating. XII log
AT dark and int mt upon sc ting south In
a hurry. 1t will put nearly 500 mics b..
hind 1t by daylight and at the end Of this
long dash It's members viii be NO more
tired than wnen they started Failure to
recognize the phenomenal flight Of the
wild go3se Is largely responsible for the
theory Of oren water ut the north pole.
Explorers Of the Arctic have said-some
Of them-thas even at tbs farthest point
north they saw geese flying southwark;
therefore there must have been open
water above them. There may have been,
yet 1t Is just as possible that the geese
they saw came from point 1000 miles
beyond the pole and had simply flown
over the top OF the world
The Wild goose adopts the V-shaptd
ioTfuhtluu III ulkbty as w NbicE VIII
fowl because 1t offers less resist iDce to
the mir. 1t travels ct great height be-
cause the higher il gets the more country
1t oan see. Its power Of suspension Is
such thst the additional thinness Of tina
atmosphere does Iot weary II. The indl-
viduals of the flock understand .signais a.
well rs do the members OF highly ell
Client football eleven. A man lying upon
his back on the prairie and observing a
flock of geese flying two miles a way, max
ing probably for some feeding ground
which the leader rem bers as Of psou-
liar sucoulence In the previous year, will
come } urdsrst Ard this. At the slight
est deviation by some younger goose, OF
the slightsst irrexularity In the msthe
II at 'osl correl aess of tis v, single
warning honk viii ocme from the Gap
tain, and in, unity the offending traveller
curves into its proper place. II 1t he
necessary to deviAts to the right or tue
left. another honk OF slightly different
tone will be sounded, and the SWING, or
b alf- wheel. will be made In one time and
three me lions. A crack drill corps could
do no bettsr. Similarly signals are given
to atcsnd, II descend, to aiight or ID arise
In addition there 10 . diiti1lt alarm MT
cjusitting OF tivs honks given SO rapidly
that they have broken, or staccato &C.
cent. There 10 a noe of distress, one Of
doubt and one of inquiry. When any of
these three is sounded 1t may be taken
for granted that every pair OF eyes In the
gang of 10 or 20 Is strained to the utter
most In tina endesvor to detect hidden
danger. The absolute dependence Of
Wild geess upon their leader is always
shown strongly Hne pitifully when the old
governor is killed. For willie ths flock
does not know what TO do, ard will
often fly around and around. coming re-
psatedIy within gunshot, until third
OF the number has been slain. How the
loss Of the director is made good Is not
known. but probably the next Oldest gan
der takes his place. 1t Is not thought that
a male from another hook Is ever admit
ted to leadership.
With tens of thousands of wild geese
upon the southwestern Texas prairies all
winter long, the slaughter among them
would be terrific but for the measures the
fowl takes for Its protection. 1t roosts
beyond gunshot from the shore, as said,
ana there Il no such thing as approaching
1t in a boat. IL will not flush In the
dark. II IL can help 1t, but will swim
away at a rate no oarsman could hope to
equal. When feeding it 10 in enormous
bands, and all OF the hundreds or thou
ands OF eyes are watching. The count y
is q rolling veldt or awarf, Offering no