THE DOMESTIC GOOSE. 419 



and hungry, he tugs at the shrubs and more solid herbs so 

 pertinaceously as to break his neck/' Columella, lib. viii. 

 chap. xiv. The Roman school of poulterers were in great fear 

 of nettles for their Goslings, and as a counter-irrative remedy, 

 it was proposed to place nettle-roots under the sitting Geese; 

 but one would say that the nettles, not the Goslings, had the 

 greatest reason for alarm. 



Geese are slaughtered by being bled from the internal parts 

 of the throat, a slow and cruel method. They, as well as 

 Ducks, should be let out to the pond a few hours before exe- 

 cution, where they will purify and arrange their feathers as 

 neatly as if they were going to their wedding instead of to 

 their death. Adult birds are almost exempt from disease. 

 When three-quarters grown, they occasionally, though not 

 often, " go light," as the country people call it, and waste and 

 die like a person in a consumption. This usually happens 

 only with birds that are shut up too closely to fat. The 

 remedy is liberty and grass. 



I have seen the shell of a Goose's Egg that had contained 

 three yolks. 



The flight of the Domestic Goose is quite powerful enough, 

 especially in young birds, to allow them to escape that way, 

 were they so inclined. In the autumn, whole broods may be 

 seen by early risers, taking their morning flight, and circling 

 in the air for matutinal exercise, just like Pigeons when first 

 let out of their locker. 



