138 WILD GEESE 



passing flock. Several years afterward he mated with a 

 goose which laid and began sitting. He then went across 

 the ravine and escorted another goose to a promising site, 

 where she made a nest and also laid eggs. 



"About this time I obtained a goose from my neighbor, 

 Mr. George E. Walker, and turned her out in the lots. 

 Imagine my surprise when the old Mormon took his third 

 wife, and they raised young ones the same season. This 

 mate he kept for years, and she was evidently his fa- 

 vorite. 



"The present season I purchased a fine eight-year-old 

 pair of mated Canadas from a party on the Atlantic 

 coast which were until two weeks ago contentedly plan- 

 ning to raise their young. They sat by the hour on a 

 hummock and arranged the nest, then all at once there 

 was a disagreement in the family. The old fellow has 

 driven his wife from his bed and board and will not allow 

 her near him. She sits disconsolate by herself or wanders 

 away to the vicinity of the pen in which are the unmated 

 ganders, which run squawking to the fence to meet her. 

 Except in the three instances above cited I never knew 

 the mated pairs to be unfaithful among the full bloods, 

 although at the present time I have one old Canada gan- 

 der who has two wives — both tame geese — which have 

 separate nests, and the old fellow puts in all his time 

 guarding first one, then the other. 



"In the nesting season it is imperative that the geese 

 have water deep enough for them to swim, otherwise the 

 eggs will not be fertile. In small enclosures it is also 

 necessary to have a light but close fence between each 

 breeding pair since the ganders are exceedingly pugna- 

 cious, fighting all others near them and sometimes drag- 



