62 CANADA GOOSE. 



that dreary climate oblige these vast congregated flocks to steer for the 

 more genial regions of the south. And no sooner do they arrive at 

 those countries of the earth inhabited by man, than carnage and 

 slaughter is commenced on their ranks. The English at Hudson's Bay, 

 says Pennant, depend greatly on Geese, and in favorable years kill three 

 or four thousand, and barrel them up for use. They send out their 

 servants as well as Indians to shoot these birds on their passage. It is 

 in vain to pursue them ; they therefore form a row of huts, made of 

 boughs, at musket-shot distance from each other, and place them in a 

 line across the vast marshes of the country. Each stand, or hovel, as 

 they are called, is occupied by only a single person. These attend the 

 flight of the birds, and on their approach mimic their cackle so well, 

 that the Geese will answer and wheel and come nearer the stand. The 

 sportsman keeps motionless, and on his knees with his gun cocked the 

 whole time, and never fires till he has seen the eyes of the Geese. He 

 fires as they are going from him, then picks up another gun that lies by 

 him and discharges that. The Geese which he has killed he sets upon 

 sticks, as if alive, to decoy others ; he also makes artificial birds for the 

 same purpose. In a good day, for they fly in very uncertain and une- 

 qual numbers, a single Indian will kill two hundred. Notwithstanding 

 every species of Goose has a difi"erent call, yet the Indians are admira- 

 ble in their imitations of every one. The autumnal flight lasts from the 

 middle of August to the middle of October : those which are taken in 

 this season, when the frosts begin, are preserved in their feathers, and 

 left to be frozen for the fresh provisions of the winter stock. The 

 feathers constitute an article of commerce, and are sent to England. 



The vernal flight of the Geese lasts from the middle of April until 

 the middle of May. Their first appearance coincides with the thawing of 

 the swamps, when they are very lean. Their arrival from the south is 

 impatiently attended ; it is the harbinger of the spring, and the month 

 named by the Indians the Goose moon. They appear usually at their 

 settlements about St. George's Day, O. S., and fly northward to nestle 

 in security. They prefer islands to the continent, as fart^or from the 

 haunts of man.* 



After such prodigious havoc as thus appears to be made among these 

 birds, and their running the gauntlet, if I may so speak, for many 

 hundreds of miles through such destructive fires, no wonder they should 

 have become more scarce, as well as shy, by the time they reach the 

 shores of the United States. 



Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early in October, and 

 their first numerous appearance is the sure prognostic of severe weather. 

 Those which continue all winter frequent the shallow bays and marsh 



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* Arct. Zool. 



