THE WILD GOOSE. 403 



that are to be eaten had better remain unmutilated. I be- 

 lieve that old birds, killed in the autumn, after they have 

 recovered from moulting, and before they have begun to think 

 about the breeding-time, would make excellent meat, if cut 

 into small portions, stewed slowly five or six hours with 

 savoury condiments, and made into pies the next day. " 'Tis 

 the soup that makes the soldier," say the French. By roast- 

 ing or broiling similar "joints," we lose the large quantity of 

 nutriment contained in the bones and cartilages, besides 

 having to swallow tough what we might easily make tender. 

 The young (as well as the old) are, in America, salted and 

 boiled; they would probably please most English palates 

 better if cooked and served Swan-fashion. A Committee of 

 Taste having assembled on January 22, 1850, to investigate 

 the edible merits of a well-conditioned Canada Goose, pro- 

 nounced them to be of a high order, rivalling those of Swan, 

 which must be taken as the standard of excellence, if we at all 

 defer to the opinion of the Churchman entertained by Chau- 

 cer's Franklin : 



"Now certainly he was a fayre prelat: 

 He was not pale as a forpined gost ; 

 A fat Swan loved he best of any rost." 



Audubon's description of their manners is most vivid, and, 

 as far as I have observed, quite accurate, and not at all ex- 

 aggerated. The young male has a frequent disposition to 

 neglect his own mate, and give himself up to unlicensed com- 

 panionship. We had one that deserted his partner, to her 

 evident grief, and made most furious love to one of a flock of 

 Tame Geese, separating her from the rest, not permitting any 

 other water-bird to swim near her, stretching out his neck 

 stiffly on a level with the water, opening his red-lined throat 

 to its utmost extent, hissing, grunting, sighing, trumpeting, 

 winking his bright black eyes, tossing his head madly, and 

 all kinds of folly. We did not choose to permit such conduct ; 



