CANADA GOOSE. 255 



Wemyss, Haddingtonshire, this and many other 

 water birds rear their young freely. I have 

 never seen any artificial piece of water, so beau- 

 tifully adapted for the domestication and intro- 

 duction of every kind of water-fowl which will 

 bear the climate of Great Britain. Of very 

 large extent, it is embossed in beautiful shrub- 

 bery, perfectly recluse, and, even in the nearly 

 constant observance of a resident family, several 

 exotic species seem to look upon it as their own. 

 The Canada and Egyptian geese both had 

 young when I visited it, and the lovely anas 

 sponsa (summer duck) seemed as healthy as in 

 her native waters." 



The Potomac, however, is the grand rendezvous 

 of geese and swans, where they are often seen 

 in countless multitudes feeding or sanding on 

 the bars, and are shot from blinds and points. 

 Great numbers of ducks are also slaughtered 

 on this river by swivel guns at night. The pad- 

 dler lies flat on his breast, and the propelling of 

 the boat in this situation is laborious and dis- 

 tressing work. A duck shooter once informed 

 us, that having been paddled for some distance 

 close to an immense flock of canvass-backs, rid- 

 ing as at anchor with their heads under their 

 wings, at the mouth of a creek, he discharged 



