THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 439 



this, we filled the hollow with thorns. She then betook her- 

 self to watch the success of her rival, the China Goose, who 

 was still sitting. When the little ones came forth from their 

 shelly prison, she assisted in affording them a mother's care, 

 leading them to the tenderest herbage, brooding them under 

 her wings, and accompanying all their movements with their 

 real parent. 



The Eggs are smaller than those of the Common Goose, 

 pure white, and of a very long oval ; whether this is a specific, 

 or only an individual peculiarity, I am unable to say. The 

 shell is also thinner than most other Gooses' Eggs. The flesh, 

 both of the wild and of the tame bird excellent. In hard 

 weather, they are frequently to be had at the poulterers' shops, 

 and generally at low prices, in the provinces at least, owing to 

 an unfounded supposition that their flesh would : &e fishy, as in 

 the sometimes scarcely eatable Brent Goose. But those who 

 are fond of game, will find it, if hung up long enough, a dish 

 for an epicure. 



If my own birds are to be taken as specimens, the White- 

 fronted Goose is a pattern of all that is valuable in anserine 

 nature, gentle, affectionate, cheerful, hardy, useful, self-de- 

 pendent. The Gander is an attentive parent, but not a faithful 

 spouse. Indeed, it is time to contradict what has been pub- 

 lished on this latter point, and to caution amateur breeders 

 that Ganders have not the virtues of Scipio. Two treatises, 

 now before me, have the following passage, differing slightly 

 from each other in the wording : 



"It has been ascertained, by M. St. Genis, that Geese will 

 pair like Pigeons and Partridges; in the course of his experi- 

 ments, he remarked, that, if the number of the Ganders exceed 

 that of the Geese by two, and even by three, including the 

 common father, no disturbance nor disputes occur, the pairing 

 taking place without any noise, and no doubt by mutual 

 choice. Besides the common father, he left two of the young 



