WILD GEESE. 113 



but, as might be expected, they fall off rapidly in condition 

 at this time of year. They remain on the New Brunswick 

 waters till the middle of May, when they fly to their 

 nesting grounds across the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I am 

 told that thousands of geese hatch in that boundless 

 wilderness, full of lakes and swamps, to the northward and 

 westward of the Labrador coast. A great number breed 

 in the island of Anticosti, but none remain in New 

 Brunswick during the summer. They make their nest 

 about the middle or end of May. It is a small, hastily 

 constructed affair, made of dry grass and their own 

 feathers. They generally select a dry " tummock," or 

 little islet, in a lagoon or swamp. Their great enemy at 

 this season is the fox, and the fox, like the cat, does not care 

 to wet his feet. Although at other times a shy and wary 

 bird, the goose at this period is quite the reverse, and will 

 do battle with a fox or other enemy in defence of its young 

 with great gallantry. They allow a man to approacli 

 within shot, and if fired at and missed will merely fly a 

 few yards and alight again. On one occasion, in Anticosti, 

 I shot a gander, and sent my dog (a poaching terrier) into 

 the swamp to fetch it. The dog, while looking for the 

 gander, stumbled upon the old goose in her nest, and 

 endeavoured to fetch her to his roaster, but he soon found 

 he had caught a Tartar. She hissed and struck at him 

 most viciously, and, taking him at a disadvantage as he 

 struggled through the swamp, the poor dog got a good 

 thrashing, and was compelled to fall back on the dying 

 gander, which, terrier like, he worried unmercifully. 



Shooting geese in the spring is always a cold, and not 

 always a very safe, amusement. The gunner, on the 



i 



