238 The Water-fowl Family 



When once quiet for the night, they can read- 

 ily be approached by a light, huddling together 

 at the strange sight. Night hunting, however, 

 is at the present time in less repute than formerly 

 and is fortunately little resorted to. Geese are 

 sometimes killed in numbers from ice blinds, 

 when small holes of open water are all that 

 remain in the frozen bay. This method is fre- 

 quently employed along the northern coast, Nova 

 Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, and Cape Breton. 

 A wounded goose is often exceedingly difficult to 

 capture, swimming and diving well or skulking 

 with the head just in sight. The food consists of 

 various water grasses and vegetables, shellfish 

 and Crustacea ; grain, when the locality affords it ; 

 in the summer, insects and berries. 



For the table the young bird is excellent, and 

 it is a common practice in shooting them, to pick 

 out when possible the smaller geese, for the old 

 birds are generally decidedly larger. 



The Canada goose has long been domesticated 

 and often breeds in captivity. When once two 

 captive birds have paired, they not infrequently 

 breed regularly. I saw a pair of Canada geese 

 on the Magdalen Islands that raised a brood 

 each spring, selecting for their nest a large brush 

 pile, some hundred yards from the house. The 

 gander carefully protected the nest during the 

 absence of the goose, keeping off any intruder. 



