1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



385 



bush in some recluse part of the garden, at the 

 distance of five to ten feet from the ground, ac- 

 cording to the convenience of the situation. The 

 materials are coarse but substantial ; the exter- 

 nal part is commonly made of small interlaced 

 twigs, old grass, and dry leaves ; to these succeed 

 thin strips of bark often of the red cedar, some- 

 what agglutinated. The inside is lined and bed- 

 ded with black root-fibres of ferns ; other acciden- 

 tal materials sometimes make a fantastic part of 

 the fabric. One has been known to carry away an 

 edging of lace which was missed, and at length 

 again recovered after the rearing of the brood, 

 whose dainty bed it assisted to form. I have fre- 

 quently found in the external coat of the nest the 

 cast-oif skins of snakes, more rarely bits of news- 

 paperSjWood shavings, strings and bass mat strips. 

 The eggs are four or five,of a bright and deep emer- 

 ald green, and without spots. The food of the Cat 

 Bird is insects and worms, particularly beetles, 

 and various garden fruits ; feeding its young often 

 on cherries and various kinds of berries. Some- 

 times they are observed to attack snakes when 

 they approach the vicinity of their brood, and 

 commonly succeed in driving oflF the enemy ; 

 when bitten, however, by the poisonous kinds, it 

 it is probable as related, that they may act in 

 Buch a manner as to appear laboring under the 

 influence of fascination. 



TOADS. 



A correspondent of the Cambridge Chronicle 

 puts in a plea for toads, and justifies his partiality 

 by the following, which we extract from his com- 

 munication : 



"We have in our garden a small nursery of 

 plum trees, which have been nearly destroyed by 

 the canker worms. Last season we commenced 

 shaking them off. One day we observed many 

 toads about these trees, that on our approach be- 

 came frightened and retreated in great haste to 

 their retreats in the neighboring bushes. Soon 

 finding that they were not pursued, they com- 

 menced hopping back, and caught with avidity 

 each canker worm, as it descended on its tiny 

 thread. A\^e counted at one time thirty immedi- 

 ately round our feet. Day after day we fed them 

 with their favorite food, and they became so tame 

 as to follow us, watch our hand, and take the 

 worm from our fingers." 



This is new to us, though it may not be to 

 many of our readers ; but whatever taste the toad 

 may have for canker worms, we are quite sure 

 that it does a world of good in a garden, by des- 

 troying earth worms, of which it eats large nunv 

 bers. We once tried to surfeit a toad with earth 

 worms, but our patience was appeased, and we 

 have always held that to destroy one of tliose dis- 

 gusting looking reptiles was doing one's grounds 

 a deal of injury. There is no charge brought 

 against the toad but its disagrceal)le appearance, 

 and it might well quote the old saw to those who 

 despise it witliout seeking to learn its real value 

 — looks are nothing, behavior is all. 



THE GOOSE. 



The goose, with the duck and swan, form a 

 distinct family of the feathered aquatic tribes, 

 (Anaiidce,) and is distinguished by web feet and 

 a flat bill. The domestic goose is derived from 

 the native wild goose, which still frequents in 

 vast numbers the more solitary inland lakes and 

 streams of the American continent, and which is 

 known to ornithologists and naturalists by the 

 appellation of the fen or stubble goose. In its 

 state of domestication it still retains its aquatic 

 character and habits, plunging eagerly into wa- 

 ter, and, when permitted, living mostly on its 

 surface. In favorable localities, where there are 

 marshes or fens abounding in pools, the rearing 

 of geese is very profitable, as they will in such 

 situations obtain their own living. 



The goose is remarkably hardy, subject to few 

 diseases, and lives to a great age. It has been 

 ascertained that the female goose, if well tended, 

 will generally lay from seventy -five to one hundred 

 eggs yearly, sometimes one hundred and twenty- 

 five ; but this depends very much upon the care 

 and attention bestowed upon them. These eggs, 

 if set under hens of large size, capable of covering 

 five or six eggs each, nearly the whole number, may, 

 with the assistance of the goose, be hatched. The 

 best feed for goslings during the four or five days 

 immediately after hatching, is barley or oat meal 

 mixed with milk. Water and a very little sweet- 

 ening, may be used as a substitute, when milk can- 

 not be obtained, or when from its scarcity it is too 

 expensive. In about one week after their enlarge- 

 ment from the eggs they will commence growing ; 

 they should then be permitted to go out, but not 

 till the day has become somewhat advanced , and 

 should be taken up before sunset. In fattening 

 geese, Indian corn meal, and chopped vegetables, 

 such as potatoes, beets, (boiled) cabbages and 

 turnips, are generally given. Charcoal, in a pul- 

 verized state, is also excellent for fattening, and, 

 in some instances, these fowls have been fed ex- 

 clusively with it for weeks, and are said to have 

 taken on fat more rapidly than when fed on any 

 other description of food. Its value for this pur- 

 pose was first discovered accidentally ; a family 

 in New York, having left the city on a protract- 

 ed absence of several weeks, without thinking of 

 several geese which had been incarcerated for 

 some purpose in a loft where there was nothing 

 eatable but a quantity of charcoal. On return- 

 ing, they were disappointed in finding their 

 atjualic friends of the loft in most admirable 

 health and condition, and the charcoal nearly 

 exhausted. They had partaken of nothing else 

 during the long period of their confinement, and 

 the fact being circulated and p\iblished in the 

 journals of tlie day, gave rise to the practice of 

 supplying these fowls with the article while un- 



