404 THE WILD GOOSE. 



but as often as we killed and roasted the object of his affec- 

 tions, he immediately selected another leman, invariably the 

 ugliest of the surviving females. One short, squat, rough- 

 feathered, ill- marked Goose, with a thick bill and a great 

 gray top-knot, was his especial favourite. When the Michael- 

 mas murders had extirpated the whole race he so admired, he 

 returned reluctantly and coldly to his former love. The best 

 remedy in such a case is to divorce them at once, and ex- 

 change one out of the pair for another bird. 





