AMONG THE BIRDS. 



169 



habit the costly down of the northern eider-duck is 

 left to be gathered. When the young are hatched, 

 the mother hurries them to the water to escape the 

 craft of foxes, minks, and snakes. 



Wild geese and swans are relations of the duck. 

 Both make a great show of defense, the goose by 

 hissing and the swan by whistling. They make their 

 summer nest far north, but travel southward in the 

 autumn. Wild geese are frequently seen flying very 

 high in the air, in two lines coming to a point like a 

 wedge. In this way they cleave the air more easily. 

 Flying in the night, they make a doleful noise so that 

 they may keep together. 



The tame goose is a very ancient member of the 

 poultry-yard, much more so than the tame duck. 

 Homer and other 

 Greek writers speak 

 of it. The Romans 

 kept geese in walled 

 yards, hatched their 

 eggs under hens, and 

 plucked their feathers 

 twice a year. Pliny, 

 greatly distressed at 

 the luxurious habits 

 of his fellow Romans, 

 writes: "Luxury has 

 come to such a pitch 

 that now-a-days men will not rest their necks unless 

 upon a pillow of goose- feathers. " 



Although ducks and their cousins have paddle-feet, 

 they sometimes, to avoid the dangers of the ground, 



Wild Geese. 



