THE S^HMIIKG, on NATATORIAL GROUP. 179 



districts chiefly depend for their sustenance 

 during the summer. About three weeks 

 after their first appearance, the Canada geese 

 disperse in pairs throughout the country, 

 between the fiftieth and sixty-seventh paral- 

 lels to breed, retiring at the same time 

 from the shores of Hudson's Bay. They are 

 seldom or never seen on the coasts of the 

 arctic sea; in July, after the young birds 

 are hatched, the parents moult, and vast num- 

 bers are killed in the rivers and small lakes, 

 when they are unable to fly. When chased 

 by a canoe, and obliged to dive frequently, 

 ' they soon become fatigued, and make for the 

 shore with the intention of hiding themselves, 

 but as they are not fleet they fall an easy prey 

 to their pursuers. In autumn they again 

 assemble in flocks on the shores of Hudson's 

 Bay for three weeks or a month previous to 

 their departure southward." In the territories 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company, these birds 

 are barrelled for use, and the feathers are im- 

 ported into England. Those taken on the 

 approach of the cold season, during their 

 southward migration, in Canada, and within 

 the states, are frozen in their feathers, and 

 preserved for winter consumption. 



