CANADA GOOSE. 179 



Wounded geese have, in numerous instances, been 

 completely domesticated, and readily pair with the tame 

 gray geese. The offspring are said to be larger than 

 either ; but the characteristic marks of the wild goose 

 still predominate. The gunners on the sea shore have 

 long been in the practice of taming the wounded of both 

 sexes, and have sometimes succeeded in getting them to 

 pair and produce. The female always seeks out the 

 most solitary place for her nest, not far from the water. 

 On the approach of every spring, however, these birds 

 discover symptoms of great uneasiness, frequently 

 looking up into the air, and attempting to go off. Some 

 whose wings have been closely cut, have travelled on 

 foot in a northern direction, and have been found at the 

 distance of several miles from home. They hail every 

 flock that passes overhead, and the salute is sure to be 

 returned by the voyagers, who are only prevented from 

 alighting among them by the presence and habitations 

 of man. The gunners take one or two of these domes- 

 ticated geese with them to those parts of the marshes 

 over which the wild ones are accustomed to fly ; and, 

 concealing themselves within gunshot, wait for a flight, 

 which is no sooner perceived by the decoy geese, than 

 they begin calling aloud, until the whole flock approaches 

 so near as to give them an opportunity of discharging 

 two and sometimes three loaded muskets among it, by 

 which great havoc is made. 



The wild goose, when in good order, weighs from 

 ten to twelve, and sometimes fourteen pounds. They 

 are sold in the Philadelphia markets at from seventy- 

 five cents to one dollar each ; and are estimated to 

 yield half a pound of feathers a-piece, which produces 

 twenty-five or thirty cents more. 



The Canada goose is now domesticated in numerous 

 quarters of the country, and is remarked for being 

 extremely watchful, and more sensible of approaching 

 changes in the atmosphere than the common gray 

 goose. In England, France, and Germany, they have 

 also been long ago domesticated. Buffon, in his account 

 of this bird, observes, " withiu these few years, many 



