GEESE. 67 



its comrades, and it is rare indeed that quarrels of a serious 

 nature arise even in a large flock of them ; but they have 

 little fear of other creatures. They will close up together 

 and face a dog, and will fiercely resent the approach of a 

 bull to their feeding ground ; they will attack even a good- 

 sized boy who ventures to interfere with them, and although 

 they will retreat before a man, they do so in good military 

 order, showing a brave front as they fall back, and ready 

 instantly to assume the offensive if an occasion offers itself. 



In its wild state the goose is an aquatic bird, but when 

 domesticated among us it prefers the dry land to the water ; 

 even when a pond is handy for its use, it passes but a very 

 small portion of its time upon the water, and depends 

 principally for its sustenance upon what it can pick up on 

 the land. It has doubtless observed that the horse, the 

 bullock, and the sheep, who stand high in the estimation 

 of man, obtain their sustenance by grazing in the fields, and 

 has therefore abandoned its family habits of feeding upon 

 marine plants and insects, and has taken to grazing. It 

 retains its web feet, however, so as to be in readiness for 

 any contingency that may arise. This adaptability to circum- 

 stances has given rise to the supposition that the military 

 spirits inhabiting the bodies of geese belonged in their life- 

 time to the gallant corps of marines, who always distinguish 

 themselves equally by land and sea. The goose has suffered 

 grievously owing to the popular, but altogether erroneous, 

 belief in its silliness. How this belief as expressed by 

 calling a child a silly or a stupid goose first originated has 

 never been explained, for there can be no doubt whatever 

 that the goose possesses an intelligence far above that of 

 average birds. 



