448 THE WHITE CHINA GOOSE. 



Common Goose and Gander have been made by him unsuc- 

 cessfully, although the White China Goose lays four times in 

 the year. Another gentleman (N. B.) who also had a pair of 

 the same lot, from China, says, " I had one good brood from 

 the young pair which I kept, but since that they have bred so 

 badly that I have parted with the females and kept a male 

 bird, and now get very good broods. My friends, to whom I 

 have given young birds from my pair, also complain. The 

 Geese sit remarkably well, never showing themselves out of 

 the nest by day, but whether they may leave the nests too 

 long in the cold of the night, I cannot tell. The time of in- 

 cubation I consider to be about four weeks and three days. 

 The young birds of the crossed breed in appearance follow the 

 mother, the Common English Goose, but they do remarkably 

 well ; and we have now (July 4) killed two really good and 

 sufficiently fat birds, which were hatched only on the 29th of 

 March last." 



