ANAS. 



kill them. The swan, for ages past, has 

 been protected on the river Thames,Eng- 

 land, as royal property ; and it continues 

 at this day to be accounted felony to steal 

 their eggs. " By this means their in- 

 crease is secured, and they prove a de- 

 lightful ornament to that noble river." 

 Latham says, " In the reign of Edward 

 IV. the estimation they were held in was 

 such that no one who possessed a free- 

 hold of less than the clear yearly value 

 of five marks was permitted even to 

 keep any." In those times, hardly a piece 

 of water was left unoccupied by these 

 birds, as well on account of the gratifica- 

 tion they gave to the eye of their lordly 

 owners, as that which they also afforded 

 when they graced the sumptuous board, 

 at the splended feasts of that period: but 

 the fashion of those days is passed away, 

 and swans are not nearly so common now 

 as they were formerly, being by most peo- 

 ple accounted a coarse kind of food, and 

 consequently held in little estimation : 

 but the cygnets (so the young swans are 

 called) are still fattened for the table, and 

 are sold very high, commonly for a gui- 

 nea each, and sometimes for more : hence 

 it may be presumed, they are better food 

 than is generally imagined. This species 

 is said to be found in great numbers in 

 llussia and Siberia, as well as further 

 southward, in a wild state. They are, 

 without an owner, common on the river 

 Trent, and on the salt-water inlet of the 

 sea near Abbotsbury, in Dorsetshire : they 

 are also met on other rivers and lakes in 

 . different parts of the British isles. The 

 female makes her nest, concealed among 

 the rough herbage, near the water's edge: 

 she lays from six to eight large white 

 eggs, and sits on them about six weeks 

 (some say eight weeks) before they are 

 hatched. The young do not acquire 

 their full plumage till the second year. It 

 is found by experience that the swan will 

 not thrive if kept out of the water : con- 

 fined in a court yard, he makes an awk- 

 ward figure, and soon becomes dirty, taw- 

 dry, dull, and spiritless. 



Anas Canadensis, or Canada goose, is 

 another useful species, which has been 

 reclaimed from a state of nature, and do- 

 mesticated and multiplied in many parts 

 of Europe, particularly ia France and 

 Germany ; and it is not very uncommon 

 in England. It is as familiar, breeds as 

 freely, and is in every respect as valuable 

 as the common goose : it is also account- 

 ed a great ornament on ponds near gen- 

 tlemen's seats. Mr. Pennant, in his Arc- 

 tic Zoology, gives the following interesting 



account of the mode of taking the Canada 

 goose in Hudson's bay : " the English ot 

 Hudson's bay depend greatly on geese, 

 of these and other kinds, for their support; 

 and in favourable years, kill three or four 

 thousand, which they salt and barrel. 

 Their arrival is impatiently attended ; it 

 is the harbinger of the spring, and the 

 month named by the Indians the Goose 

 Moon. They appear usually at our set- 

 tlements in numbers, about St. George's 

 Day, O. S., and fly northward to nestle in 

 security. They prefer islands to the con- 

 tinents, as further from the haunts of men. 

 Thus, Marble Island was found, in Au- 

 gust, to swarm with swans, geese, ami 

 ducks ; the old ones moulting, and the 

 young at that time incapable of flying." 

 " The English send out their servants, as 

 well as Indians, to shoot these birds on 

 their passage. It is in vain to pursue them; 

 they therefore form a row of huts made 

 of bows, at musket-shot distance from 

 each other, and place them in a line across 

 the vast marshes of the country. Each 

 hovel, or, as they are called, stand, is oc- 

 cupied by only a single person. These 

 attend the flight of the birds, and on their 

 approach, mimic their'cackle so well, that 

 the geese will answer, and wheel and 

 come nearer the stand. The sportsman 

 keeps motionless, and on his knees, with 

 his gun cocked, the whole time, and ne- 

 ver fires till he has seen the eyes of the 

 geese. He fires as they are going from 

 him, then picks up another gun that lies 

 by him, and discharges that. The geese 

 which he has killed he sets up on sticks, 

 as if alive, to decoy others ; he also makes 

 artificial birds for the same purpose. In 

 a good day (for they fly in very uncertain 

 and unequal numbers) a single Indian will 

 kill two hundred. Notwithstanding every 

 species of goose has a different call, yet 

 the Indians are admirable in their imita- 

 tion of every one." The vernal flight of 

 the geese lasts from the middle of April 

 until the middle of May. Their first ap- 

 pearance coincides with the thawing of 

 the swamps, when they are very lean. 

 The autumnal, or the season of their re- 

 turn with their young, is from the middle 

 of August to the middle of October. 

 Those which are taken in this latter sea- 

 son, when the frosts usually begin, are- 

 preserved in their feathers, and left to be 

 frozen, for the fresh provisions of the win- 

 ter stock. The feathers constitute an ' 

 article of commerce, and are sent into 

 England." This is the common wild 

 goose of the United States; cinereous; 

 head and neck black; cheeks and chin 



