3 i6 SEA FABLES EXPLAINED. 



there. The ignorant people of those localities, never 

 finding any of the eggs or nests of these birds in places 

 where they were so commonly seen, supposed that they 

 never laid eggs, nor made a nest, and that they were not 

 bred like other birds, but in a different and mysterious 

 manneY. Upon the shores most frequented by these geese 

 were, also, found in abundance certain " shell-fish," having 

 fibres, or filaments, hanging out of them which, in some 

 degree, resembled the feathers of a bird. From this slight 

 origin arose the belief that they contained real birds. The 

 fishermen persuaded themselves that these birds within the 

 shells were the geese whose origin they had been previously 

 unable to discover, and that they were thus bred, instead 

 of being hatched, like other birds, from eggs. The " shell- 

 fish " were found growing on pieces of timber or old trees 

 floating in the water or cast upon the land. As the tale 

 spread to a distance, it gained by repetition. The trees 

 found upon the shore were soon reported to be trees 

 growing on the shore ; that which grew on trees people 

 soon asserted to be the fruit of trees ; and thus, from step 

 to step, the story increased in wonder and obtained credit, 

 till, at length, Gerard had the audacity to assert that he 

 had witnessed the transformation of the "shell-fish" into 

 geese. 



The Barnacle Goose is only a winter visitor of Great 

 Britain. It breeds in the far north, in Greenland, Iceland, 

 Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, and probably, also, along 

 the shores of the White Sea. There are generally some 

 specimens of this prettily-marked goose in the gardens of 

 the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park, 'London ; and 

 they thrive there, and become very tame. In the months 

 of December and January these geese may often be seen 

 hanging for sale in poulterer's shops ; and he who has 



