GREY-LAG GOOSE. 117 



its own feathers. Sometimes the farmer would go out shooting 1 , 

 and no sooner had he shouldered his gun, than his companion 

 was at its post, following him as before, in spite of every 

 obstacle, 'getting over,' to use the man's own words, 'the fences 

 as well as I could myself.' AIL this, it should be observed, 

 continued not only without any encouragement on the part 

 of the farmer, but even in spite of every discouragement on 

 his part. How long it would have continued, or to what 

 extent, we lament to add, he effectually precluded the world 

 from knowing; for with an unpardonable inattention to so 

 truly a wonderful case, in addition to an equally unpardonable 

 superstitious fear, he took it into his head that the mysterious 

 affection of the Goose foreboded some evil; and in a moment 

 of alarm, he killed the faithful bird. 



We can quote another, shewing that a Goose is occasionally 

 possessed of a keen sense, enabling her to detect imposition, 

 and distinguish her own eggs from others closely resembling 

 them. A Goose belonging to a clergyman in Cheshire, was 

 set, as it is termed, on six or eight eggs; the dairymaid 

 thinking these too few for so large a bird to cover, added 

 an equal number of duck's eggs; the next morning she 

 went as usual to see if all was right, when, to her great 

 surprise, she found the Goose quiet on her nest, but every 

 one of the duck's eggs picked out and lying on the ground. 

 Her mistress directed her to replace them, which was accordingly 

 done, but the next morning, on going again to examine 

 the nest, she found all the duck's eggs as before, moved off, 

 and lying round about the nest, the Goose's eggs remaining 

 under the sitting bird in perfect order. How long she would 

 have persevered in removing them is not known, as, for fear 

 of driving the Goose from her nest, th'e experiment was not 

 repeated. 



When once attached to each other they appear to be very 

 constant; in proof of which, a person having marked five 

 separate Ganders, and five separate Geese with which they 

 had paired, found that for three successive years when he 

 attended to them, each regularly selected his companion of 

 the former year, and continued faithful to her. Why the 

 Goose has been so generally pointed out, proverbially, as the 

 most foolish of birds, it is difficult to say, for the foregoing, 

 as well as the following instances, would lead us to believe 

 that they are endowed with a larger, rather than a less portion 

 of sense than other birds. 



