CANADA GOOSE. 85 



now admitted in our Fauna ; at the same time it is 

 a bird so easily domesticated, and so frequently kept 

 where there are artificial waters, that we have no 

 doubt many escape or stray, and are at times killed 

 and considered wild. It has been killed in various 

 parts of England, but we do not know or recollect 

 of any Scotch instances of its capture ; at times 

 small flocks have appeared, some pairs of which 

 would remain after the mass had departed, and se- 

 lect a breeding spot where they would rear the 

 young. An instance of this is related to have taken 

 place near Derby, where an artificial piece of water 

 was selected for a breeding place ;* the birds thus 

 exhibiting none of the wariness we usually see among 

 this tribe, and in this instance we would rather 

 consider that they had been accustomed to con- 

 finement, and had selected a situation resembling 

 that to which they had been used. In their native 

 countries, however, they are far from wild, and are 

 described by Dr. Richardson as easily decoyed, 

 several are often killed at a shot, and by Audubon 

 they are stated to afford a frequent temptation to 

 the sportsman. That ornithologist also observes, 

 that they breed sparingly at the present day in 

 many parts of the western districts, on the Missouri, 

 Mississippi, the lower parts of the Ohio, Lake Erie, 

 &c. ; he also found them on the Magdeline Islands, 

 Newfoundland, and Labrador. In the "Western and 

 Eastern States it is crossed with the common goose, 

 and the breed is considered superior; it is more 

 * See Mag. of Nat. Hist. viii. p. 255. 



