WATER-FOWL. 2' 9 



ceding. It is scarce necessary to combat the idle error of this bird's 

 being bred from a shell sticking to ships' bottoms ; it is well known 

 to be hatched from an egg, in the ordinary manner, and to differ in 

 very few particulars from all the rest of its kind. 



The Brent Goose is still less than the former, and not bigger than 

 a Muscovy duck, except that the body is longer. The head, neck, 

 and upper part of the breast are black ; about the middle of the neck, 

 on each side, are two small spots or lines of white, which together ap- 

 pear like a ring. 



These, and many other varieties, are found in this kind ; which 

 agree in one common character of feeding upon vegetables, and being 

 remarkable for their fecundity. Of these, however, the tame goose 

 s the most fruitful. Having less to fear from its enemies, leading a 

 securer and a more plentiful life, its prolific powers increase in pro 

 portion to its ease ; and though the wild goose seldom lays above eight 

 eggs, the tame goose is often seen to lay above twenty. The fema\e 

 hatches her eggs with great assiduity ; while the gander visits her 

 twice or thrice a day, and sometimes drives her off to take her place, 

 where he sits with great state and composure. 



But beyond that of all animals is his pride when the young are ex- 

 cluded : he seems then to consider himself as a champion, not only 

 obliged to defend his young, but also to keep off the suspicion of 

 danger ; he pursues dogs and men that never attempt to molest him : 

 and, though the most harmless thing alive, is then the most petulant 

 and provoking. When, in this manner, he has pursued the calf or 

 the mastiff, to whose contempt alone he is indebted for safety, he re- 

 turns to his female and her brood in triumph, clapping his wings, 

 screaming, and showing all the marks of conscious superiority. It is 

 probable, however, these arts succeed in raising his importance 

 among the tribe where they are displayed ; and it is probable there is 

 not a more respectable animal on earth to a goose than a gander ! 



A young goose is generally reckoned very good eating; yet the 

 feathers of this bird still farther increase its value. I feel my obliga 

 tions to this animal every word I write ; for, however deficient a 

 man's head may be, his pen is nimble enough upon every occasion: it 

 is happy indeed for us, that it requires no great effort to put it in mo 

 tion. But the feathers of this bird are still as valuable in another ca- 

 pacity, as they make the softest and the warmest beds to sleep on. 



Of goose-feathers, most of our beds in Europe are composed ; in 

 the countries bordering on the Levant, and in all Asia, the use of 

 them is utterly unknown. They there use mattresses, stuffed with wool, 

 or camel's hair, or cotton ; and the warmth of their climates may 

 perhaps make them dispense with cushions of a softer kind. But how 

 it happens that the ancients had not the use of feather-beds, is to me 

 surprising: Pliny tells us, indeed, that they made bolsters of feathers 

 to lay their heads on ; and this serves as a proof that they turned fea- 

 Uiers to no other uses. 



As feathers are a very valuable commodity, great numbers of geese 

 are kept tame in the fens in Lincolnshire, which are plucked once or 

 twice a year. These make a considerable article of commerce. The 

 'eathers of Somersetshire are most in esteem ; those of Ireland are 

 icckoned the worst. Hudson's Bay also furnishes very fine feathers 



