402 THE WILD GOOSE. 



settling them in their new abode is to confine them with hur- 

 dles and netting, as near as possible to the spot where it 

 is wished they should eventually make their nest. Those 

 from the hands of dealers will generally be cowed or timidly 

 tame j but young birds, fresh taken from their parents, or 

 adult ones that have been removed from their old home to a 

 new one, will sulk and be shy. For the first few hours they 

 need have nothing to eat, only plenty of water to drink. 

 Their keeper should show himself to them, and speak to them 

 kindly, as often as his leisure will permit; when he guesses 

 that they begin to fell the cravings of hunger, a small handful 

 of corn may be thrown down to them, a cabbage or two, and 

 half a dozen earth-worms. It is, of course, supposed that they 

 have been located on the grass. It is likely that at first they 

 will not eat in the presence of a stranger : they may be left 

 for ac^hour or so, when, if they have availed themselves of 

 his absence, he may give them a little more from time to time. 

 Proceeding thus by kindness, familiarity, and very frequent 

 visits, he will soon secure their confidence, and be able to form 

 his own judgment when they may be suffered to range at 

 large. 



The young are active, self-helping little things. Their 

 down is of a dirty gray, a colour very difficult to describe, with 

 darker patches here and there, like the young of the China 

 Goose. Their bill, eyes, and legs are black. They give no 

 trouble in rearing. The old ones lead them to the places 

 where suitable food is to be obtained. The keeper, by a 

 liberal supply of corn, can bring them forward for the table 

 better than by shutting them up to fat ; and before Christmas 

 the parents should be alone again in their domain. They will 

 continue to increase in size and beauty for some years, and should 

 have been pinioned at the first or second joint of the wing, 

 (reckoning from the tip,) according to the scope they are to 

 be allowed, in the manner described for the Swan : the young 



