244 GAME SHOAL-WATER FOWL. 



frequently, however, seen them feeding upon 

 grain, and observing that Audubon and several 

 others have pronounced them excellent eating, am 

 inclined to think the prevailing idea amongst 

 hunters in regard to the fishy flavor of their 

 flesh to be poorly founded. 



The flesh of the white-fronted goose is, I think, 

 acknowledged by all who have partaken of it to 

 be delicate and well-flavored. They feed almost 

 entirely by day, and chiefly upon grass, grain, 

 and other vegetable matter, which they procure 

 upon the low, wet prairies and grain-fields; 

 leaving for the purpose, early in the morning, 

 the large lakes and ponds where they roost at 

 night, and returning to them again in the after- 

 noon about sundown. On these journeys, which 

 are often several miles in length, they fly high 

 in air, much in the manner of wild geese (whose 

 wing-strokes, however, are not quite so fast), and 

 seldom lower their flight until directly over their 

 feeding-grounds or roosting-ponds, when all dart 

 down together in a confused, zigzag, and irregu- 

 lar manner, cackling loudly, and uttering the 

 while most discordant sounds. (This habit is also 

 characteristic of the snow-geese, and perhaps in 

 a greater degree ; their notes, however, are widely 



