of 



275 



and acute ear of the sentinel, who, placed on 

 some eminence, with outstretched neck, sur- 

 veys everything that moves within the circle 

 of his observations, and the instant he sounds 

 the alarm, the whole flock betake themselves 

 to flight. 



But though they are seen regularly migra- 

 ting southward in the autumn, and north- 

 ward in the spring, they were formerly 

 known to remain and breed in the fens of 

 Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, and va- 

 rious other parts of Great Britain; the drain- 

 ing and cultivation of these marshy districts 

 have now, however, nearly depopulated them 

 of their former feathered inhabitants ; but 

 in lieu of the wild races, these localities are 

 now teeming with domesticated ones in a 

 highly improved condition. The Wild Goose 

 lays from six to eight, sometimes ten or a 

 dozen eggs, of a dirty greenish colour, the 

 nest being placed among rushes, heaths, &c. 



The TAME GOOSE. The wild species we 

 have just described is, as before stated, the 

 original of the domesticated Goose ; to 

 describe whose varied plumage, economy, 

 and habits, may to many seem a superfluous 

 task ; while others, to whom they are less 



, well known, may deem the account suffi- 

 ciently interesting. How long they have 

 been reclaimed from their original in- 



i dependence is not easily ascertained ; but 

 the time must have been very remote, for 

 from a very distant date they appear to 

 have held their present station, to have 

 been kept for the self- same purposes, and 

 to have been treated in the same manner. 

 Their predominant colours are white and 

 gray, with shades of ash and brown : some 

 of them are yellowish, others dusky, and 

 many are found to differ very little in 

 appearance from the original stock. The 

 only permanent mark, which all the gray 

 ones still retain, like those of the wild kind, 

 is the white ring which surrounds the root 

 of the tail. They are generally furnished 

 with a small tuft on the head ; and the most 

 usual colour of the males (the Ganders) is 

 pure white ; the bills and feet in both males 

 and females are of an orange red. By studied 

 attention in the breeding, two sorts of these 

 Geese have been obtained a larger and a 

 smaller sort ; the former weighing from ten 

 to upwards of fifteen pounds, and frequently 

 much more. The smaller kind are more 

 delicate eating ; delicacy, however, is often 

 not so much regarded as the bountiful 

 appearance and savoury smell of a " fine fat 

 goose" on the festive board. But it is not 

 altogether on account of their use as food 

 that they are valuable ; their feathers, their 

 down, and their quills, have long been con- 

 sidered as articles of more importance, and 

 from which their owners reap more advan- 

 vantages. Pennant, in describing the me- 

 thods used in Lincolnshire, in breeding, 



, rearing, and plucking Geese, says, They are 

 plucked five times in -the year: first at Lady- 

 day for the feathers and quills ; which busi- 



| ness is renewed for the feathers only, four 

 times more between that and Michaelmas : 

 he adds, that he saw the operation performed 

 even upon goslings of six weeks old, from 



j which the tail feathers were plucked ; and 

 I that numbers of the Geese die when the sea- 

 | son afterwards proves cold. But this unfeel- 

 ing process, as well as the care and attention 

 which are bestowed upon the brood Geese 

 while they are engaged in the work of incu- 

 bation, is nearly the same everywhere. 

 j Wicker pens are provided for them, placed 

 j in rows, and tier above tier. Some place 

 i water and corn near the nests ; others drive 

 j them to the water twice a -day, and replace 

 each female upon her own nest as soon as 

 she returns. At length the brood is hatched ; 

 and as soon as they are able to follow their 

 parent Geese, they are driven to the neigh- 

 bouring fens and marshes, on whose grassy- 

 margined pools they feed and thrive without 

 requiring any further attendance until the 

 autumn. In this way immense numbers are 

 reared in many parts of this country ; but 

 nowhere are there so many as in the fens of 

 Lincolnshire, where it is said to be no uncom- 

 mon thing for a single person to keep a 

 thousand old Geese, each of which, on an 

 average, will bring up seven young ones. So 

 i far those only are noticed which may proba- 

 I perly be called the larger flocks, by which 

 particular watery districts are peopled ; but 

 it must be borne in mind that they form 

 only a part of the large family : and when 

 the stock of the various farm-yards through- 

 out the kingdom are added, the immense 

 whole will appear multiplied in a ratio 

 almost incalculable. A great part of those 

 which are left to provide for themselves 

 during the summer, in the solitary distant 

 waters, as well as those which enliven the 

 village green, are put into the stubble fields 

 after harvest, to fatten on the scattered grain, 

 while some are penned up for this purpose ; 

 and at length vast numbers are driven in 

 flocks, or otherwise sent, to the great mart 

 and focus of consumption, London ; the pro- 

 vincial towns throughout the kingdom being 

 also furnished with an adequate supply. 



The Tame Goose lays from seven to twelve 

 eggs, and < sometimes more : these are care- 

 fully divided among the brood Geese when 

 ! they begin to sit : those which lay a second 

 j time in the course of the summer are seldom, 

 if ever, permittjed to have a second hatching; 

 ; but the eggs are used for household purposes. 

 I It is universally believed that the Goose 

 lives to a great age, and particular instances 

 are recorded by ornithologists which confirm 

 the fact some even emulating the human 

 period of "threescore years and ten." It 

 | has been remarked that none of our domestic 

 ! birds are so apt to bring forth monstrous 

 productions as Geese a circumstance which 

 has been attributed to the excessive fatness 

 to which they are liable. The liver of a fat 

 Goose is often larger than all the other 

 viscera, and was a dish in so great reputation 

 among the epicures of Rome, that Pliny 

 thought it deserved a serious discussion, to 

 whom the honour of inventing BO excellent a 

 dish was due. 



The SNOW GOOSE (Anser [CAew] hyperbo- 

 reus) is two feet eight inches in length, and its 

 extended wings are five feet . The bill of this 

 bird is very curious, the edges having each 



