826 



THE CANADA COOSE. 



IIUXK. honk — honk, honk! Wluil a >linint;' miuihI is thai wliicli siun- 

 iiions us from whatever task iiidiinrs, and liiu'ries us out halless, Ijrcathless, 

 into the crisp March air tn l)chciid a ctimpany iif Wild ('.(.-esc passing forward 

 into the frosty North I llonk. honk! We think niadl\- id" our gun upstairs, 

 for the Geese are pro\(ikiug"ly near, and we hear ilie thrilhng swisli nf tlie low- 

 sweeping wings: hut we take it dut in great hoasts {n our similarh- liatless 

 neighbor, of wliat we could ha\e dune if the giui had heen put togetlier and 

 we had known that those fcjolish Cieese were coiuing right o\-er town. And 





Taken in Dnnglas County. 



Pl-.olo by llu- Author. 



C.\N.\D.\ GEESE. 



HATCHED fRuM WILD EGGS BUT NOW THOROI.Y DOMESTICATED. 



when the great birds become a row of trailing points on the nnrthern sky, 

 a fever of strange unrest burns within (lur \eins. and we wnnder tluai what 

 ancestral folly i>ur wings were clipi)ed, and nur race cnudetuned to unceasing 

 barn-yard toil. 



The Canada Goose has unh' two cai'dinal puints < in his compass. North 

 and South: .and unlike nmst migrants, he does not go by the map. nor follow 

 favorite paths thru the air, but Hies straight o\er hill and dale, city and 

 hamlet alike, until the goal is reached, or until the weather discourages further 

 movement for a time. The Geese move usually ;it a considerable height, 

 forming open Y-sha|)ed figures, with the oldest or strongest gander in the 

 lead at the apex: or else in single oblique lines. Each bird demands as clear 

 a field as possible, and this is best secured by an arrangement which allows 



