ANSERIN.E — THE GEESE — BERNICLA. 463 



Its flight is heavy and laborious, the flock forming a triangle, and being always 

 led by an old gander. When wounded the Wild Goose can swim and dive with great 

 facility, going long distances under the water. A\'hen taken alive it is easily do- 

 mesticated, and mixes readily with the common tame Goose. Yet even after it 

 has become quite domesticated, and even after it has reared a brood or two, it will 

 exhibit symptoms of uneasiness as the periods of migration approach, and will some- 

 times fly off and join the wild ones passing within hearing overhead. On the other 

 hand, whole flocks of ^Vild Geese have been known to be decoyed by domesticated 

 ones, and induced to alight among tliem. 



jNIr. Audubon found this Goose on the Magdalen Islands, sitting on its eggs, early 

 in June, and in Labrador nesting in every suitable marshy plain. According to his 

 observations, all the birds of this species unite together before departing on their 

 spring migrations. He has noted preparatory symptoms of meeting as early as Jan- 

 uary. In his opinion these Geese are far more abundant, during the winter, on the 

 interior waters than they are near the sea-coast. He observed them in immense flocks 

 in Kentucky, and was informed that before the settlement of the country the Wild 

 Goose bred abundantly in all the temperate parts of North America. As late as 1819 

 Mr. Audubon met with the nest, eggs, and young of this species near Henderson, on 

 the Ohio. It usually builds its nest on the ground, in some retired place not far from 

 the water, preferably among the rankest grass. The nest is carefully formed of dry 

 plants of various kinds, and is of large size, flat, and raised to the height of several 

 inches. In one instance Audubon found a nest elevated above the ground on the 

 high stump of a large tree in the centre of a pond. The greatest number of eggs 

 found in the nest of this bird when in a wild state is nine ; but six is the more com- 

 mon number. The domesticated Goose, however, lays as many as eleven. The, eggs 

 average 3.50 inches in length by 2.50 in breadth, and are thick-shelled, smooth, and 

 of a dull yellowish-green color. The period of incubation is twenty-eight days, and 

 there is but one brood in a season. The young follow their parents to the water 

 Avithin a day or two after they are hatched, and remain with them until the following 

 spring, being the objects of their devoted care. 



Mr. Audubon gives an interesting account of a pair of this species which he cap- 

 tured at the mouth of Green River, Kentucky. Their young were taken with them, 

 and these he succeeded in raising by feeding them with locusts. They mated and 

 bred in confinement, but the old ones were only partially domesticated, and would 

 not mate. These birds were all especially inimical to dogs, bat evinced a still greater 

 dislike of an old Swan and an old Turkey-Coek. They proved very useful in clearing 

 the garden of slugs and snails. 



The flight of this species is firm, rapid, and protracted, the bird moving with great 

 steadiness and regularity. Before rising it usually runs a few feet Avith outspread 

 wings, l)ut when surprised can rise witli a sudden spring. In its migrations it is 

 liable to be thrown into confusion by passing into a fog-bank, or over a city or a place 

 where there is much shipping. Severe snow-storms also disturb it ; so much so, that 

 individuals have been known to dash themselves against the walls of lighthouses and 

 other buildings in the daytime. In the spring migrations flocks not infrequently 

 alight in fields of young grain, and commit great havoc in the course of a single night. 

 Both keenness of sight and quickness of hearing are remarkable in this bird, and it is 

 always vigilant and suspicious ; so that it is with great difliculty taken by surprise. 



Mr. MacFarlane found this species breeding in the vicinity of Fort Anderson, 

 the nests being placed near small inland lakes ; they appeared as early as May 17. 

 In one instance five eggs of this species were found in a. deserted Hawk's nest warmly 



