d a yard; and in
Canada, where its depth is very great, they have to remain in it during
the whole winter, feeding round the area on the young wood of deciduous
trees. In Nova Scotia, however, they migrate to other localities when
they have consumed the more tempting portions of food in the yard. In
the morning and afternoon they are found feeding, or chewing the cud;
but at noon, when they lie down, they are difficult to approach, as they
are then on the alert, employing their wonderful faculties of scent and
hearing to detect the faintest taint or sound in the air, which might
indicate the approach of danger. The snapping of a little twig, the
least collision of a rifle with a branch, or crunching of the snow under
the mocassins, will suffice to arouse them. Curiously enough, however,
they are not alarmed by any sound, even the loudest, to which they have
been accustomed. The hunter has, therefore, to approach the yard with
the greatest possible caution, in order to get a shot.

We will, however, start off on a moose hunt, in autumn, with a practical
Indian hunter. The air of the autumnal night is frosty and bracing.
The moose are moving rapidly from place to place. Night is drawing on.
The last fluttering of the aspens dying away, leaves that perfect repose
in the air which is so necessary to the sport. The moon rises, shedding
a broad and silvery light through the forest. Mysterious sounds greet
our ears. The Indian hunter is provided with his trumpet of birch-bark,
in the form of a cone, about two feet in length. He shelters himself
behind the edge of the banks, a clump of bushes, or rocks; and now he
emits the cry of the cow moose, so exactly, that the male animal is
easily deceived by it. He waits: there is no response. An interval of
fifteen minutes elapses; still no reply is heard. Again the Indian
sends his wild cry pealing through the wood. Presently a low grunt,
quickly repeated, comes from some distant hill; and the snapping of
branches and falling trees attests the approach of the bull. The hunter
is now doubly careful; kneeling down, and thrusting the mouth of his
call into some bushes close by, he utters a lower and more plaintive
sound. At length an answer reaches his ears. The snapping of the
branches is resumed; and presently the moose is seen stalking into the
middle of the moonlit "barren." Our weapons are ready; and as the
magnificent animal stands looking eagerly around in the wo