CANADA GOOSE-SHOOTING. 281 
of the oldest inhabitant, and amateur fisherman, or the 
owner of a setter dog. It is a matter of history of a 
goose in captivity being killed at the age of 80 years, 
necessity compelling his removal at that tender age, on 
account of his mischievousness. Think ofit! Having 
to be killed at the age of 80 because of mischievousness. 
It does seem, that at that time of life, childish and 
youthful tricks ought to have been discarded ; but for 
aught we know, this same goose may have been in its 
earliest childhood ; perhaps even the age of adolescence 
had not been reached. And what age he might have 
attained, had he not by his own playful indiscretions in- 
vited his own destruction, it is impossible to predict. 
After being acquainted with the sad decapitation of the 
departed goose, cut off in the spring-time of his earthly 
career, I am fully convinced of the extreme age many 
old ganders I have killed must have reached. One 
in particular, I have in mind. At the time of 
his dissolution and when compelled to bid adieu 
to all worldly affairs he was the leader of a large flock, 
coming into my decoys. His immense size, appearing 
almost a third larger than his companions, at once at- 
tracted my attention. At the report of my gun he fell 
with a loud thud on the frozen ground. When I picked 
him up, his every appearance convinced me that he was 
a patriarch ; little gray hairs streaked through the 
glossy black on his head, around his eyes tiny wrinkles 
were visible—everything in fact satisfied me that his 
age was great. His enlarged neck, his body weighing 
13 pounds, and his general appearance filled me with 
awe, not unmixed with admiration; and the thought 
occurred to me, that ifa goose at the tender age of 80 
years is killed because of mischievousness, how old must 
