234 GAME SHOAL- WATER FOWL. 



tinged with brown ; the lower parts are always 

 more gray, and the black of the head, neck, 

 rump, and tail is shaded with brown. 



Length, 41 inches ; weight, 5J pounds. 



No one species of the whole family of wild 

 fowl is so familiar to the inhabitants of our 

 country as the wild goose, for they are to be 

 met with or seen upon their migrations in nearly 

 every State in our Union. Their form of flight 

 is generally in a straight line, with perhaps a 

 second one branching from the main one, thus: 

 * * I 4f * «• , in either case led by an old gan- 

 der, who, after acting as guide and breaking the 

 way, as it were, through the air for a time, 

 drops back, and is relieved by another, who also 

 is relieved in turn. " In foggy weather or during 

 severe snow-storms they frequently appear to 

 get bewildered, and act as though they had lost 

 their way. On such occasions they often alight 

 to rest and recollect themselves." Before alight- 

 ing from a long journey in a strange place, 

 they always commence cackling and honking 

 loudly, as though discussing the safety or advan- 

 tages of the place. They feed upon grass, grain, 

 pond-lily nuts, insects, and the roots of a pecu- 

 liar plant which grows in shallow, stagnant waters, 



