564 APPENDIX. 



most honest gentleman, knew no more about the real habits of most 

 birds, than I did about his grandmother. 



Firstly, The swan does not obtain its adult plumage till the third 

 year ; whereas the Canada goose acquires his by the end of the first, 

 or early in the second. 



Secondly, The swan invariably persecutes and even kills its own 

 progeny of the last year, on the commencing of the next breeding 

 time. The Canada goose does no such thing. 



Thirdly, The swan will not feed on the grass of meadows and of 

 pastures. The Canada goose lives upon this grass, except during 

 harvest, when it goes to the corn-fields. 



Fourthly, The swan conveys every mouthful of food to the water 

 before it swallows it, and where it undergoes a kind of filtering pro- 

 cess. The Canada goose never does this, and will enjoy its food 

 without any water at all. 



Fifthly, The swan is comparatively a mute bird ; but the Canada 

 goose is vociferous beyond all manner of belief at all seasons of the 

 year. Just now, they are flying round my house, making a noise as 

 though each had a trumpet in its mouth. 



Sixthly, The swan elevates the covert, tertial, and secondary 

 feathers of the wings whenever you approach it. The Canada goose 

 never does this. 



Seventhly, The swan carries its young brood frequently on its 

 back. Not so with the Canada goose. 



Eighthly, The Canada goose will pair with other geese, and even 

 with the diminutive Barnacle goose, as is proved every year at my 

 house. The swan enters into no such bonds of love. 



Lastly, The Canada goose is remarkably swift on foot, and can be 

 driven any distance on the high road. Now the swan is particularly 

 slow when on the land, and cannot be forced along to any extent, on 

 account of pedal inability. 



For these reasons, then, I wish very much that the bird in question 

 should remain a goose. 



Since your great Audubon and our great Swainson have ceased to 

 caricature ornithology in England, that delightful study has certainly 

 become more simplified. Still there are honest writers, whom I 

 could name, not very competent to dogmatise in our arena of orni- 



