rouLTKY. 267 



mons : the antiimnal fli<:i:ht lasts from the middle of Angnist to the middle ^ 

 of October ; those Avhich are taken in this season, when the frosts begin, 

 are preserved in their feathers, and left to be frozen for the fresh pro- 

 visions of the winter stock. The feathers constitute an article of com- 

 merce, and are sent to Eng-land. The vernal flight of these geese lasts 

 from the middle of April until the middle of May. Their arrival in the 

 fur countries from the south is impatiently expected ; it is the harbinger 

 of spring, and the month is named by the Indians the goose-moon. Dr. 

 Richardson, in his Fauna Borcali- Americana^ describes as follows the 

 interest caused by the appearance of the flocks: — "The arrival of this 

 well-known bird is anxiously looked for and hailed with great joy by 

 the natives of the woody and swampy districts, who depend principally 

 on it for subsistence during the summer. It makes its first appearance 

 in flocks of twenty or thirty, which are readily decoyed w^ithin gunshot 

 by the hunters, who conceal themselves and imitate its call. Two, three 

 or more are so frequently killed at a shot, that the usual price of a goose 

 is the single charge of ammunition. One goose, which when fat weiglis 

 about nine pounds, is the daily ration of one of the Company's servants 

 during the season, and is reckoned equivalent to two snow-geese {^Anas 

 hi/pei'horea)^ or three ducks, or eight pounds of buff'alo and moose- 

 meat, or two pounds of pemrnican, or a pint of maize and four ounces of 

 suet. 



" About three weeks after their first appearance, the Canada geese 

 disperse in pairs throughout the country, between the fiftieth and sixty- 

 seventh parallels, to breed, retiring at the same time from the shores of 

 Hudson's Bay. They are seldom or never seen on the coasts of the 

 arctic sea. In July, after the young birds are hatched, the parents 

 moult, and vast numbers are killed in the rivers and lakes, when (from 

 the loss of their quill feathers) they are unable to fly. AVhen chased 

 by a canoe, and obliged to dive frequently, they soon become fatigued, 

 and make for the shore with the intention of hiding themselves; but as 

 they are not fleet, they fall an easy prey to their pursuers. In the 

 autumn they again assemble in flocks on the shores of Hudson's Bay for 

 three weeks or a month previous to their departure southward." 



The Canada goose feeds on aquatic vegetables and their roots, and 

 delicate marine plants of the genus ulva. To this diet they add grain 

 and berries in their season. 



The flight of this species is laborious and heavy, and generally in 

 single file, or in the form of two sides of a triangle, the leader, some 

 old gander, being the a-picol bird. From time to time this leader utters 

 his deep ^^ honk,'''' which is responded to by the rest of the flock, and 

 which may be translated, "What cheer, ho?" "All's well!" Very 

 often, however, all is not well, for the line is scattered by the fire of the 

 gunner; often, too, they meet with dense fogs, in which they become 

 bewildered, and after wheeling about alight on the ground, where the 

 gunners give them a warm reception. In some districts the sportsmen 

 take with them into the marshes one or two of the domesticated race, 

 which by their call attract the flocks passing overhead, and allure them 

 to destruction. 



Wilson says that, except in calm weather, the flocks of Canada geese 



