414> HISTORY OF 



tirely red, and whose legs are entirely brown. The wild goose 

 is rather less than the tame ; but both invariably retain a white 

 ring round their tail, which shows that they are both descended 

 from the same originaL 



The wild goose is supposed to breed in the northern parts of 

 Europe ; and, in the beginning of winter, to descend into more 

 temperate regions. They are often seen flying at very great 

 heights, in flocks from fifty to a hundred, and seldom resting by 

 day. Their cry is frequently heard when they are at an imper- 

 ceptible distance above us ; and this seems bandied from one to 

 the other, as among hounds in the pursuit. Whether this be 

 the note of nmtual encouragement, or the necessary consequence 

 of respiration, is doubtful ; but they seldom exert it when they 

 alight in these journeys.* 



* The flight of wild geese takes place without noise, and the order in 

 which it is performed, presupposes no small degree of combination and in. 

 telligence. It is an arrangement the most favourable for each individual to 

 follow in its place and preserve its proper rank, and for the entire flock to 

 cut the air with the smallest degree of fatigue. They place themselves in 

 two oblique lines, forming an angle, or in a single line when the troop is not 

 very numerous. He who is at the head of the angle, cuts the air first, re- 

 tires to the last rank to repose himself when fatigued, and the others take 

 his place in their turns. There are certain points, so to speak, from which 

 the grand armies of these birds divide, to spread themselves tlirough dif- 

 ferent countries ; such are Mount Taurus relatively to Asia Minor, and 

 Mount Stella, where they repair in the after-season, and from whence they 

 disperse through Europe. These secondary bands unite again, and fonu 

 others, which to the number of four or five hundred, come sometimes in 

 winter, and alight upon our fields, where they feed upon the corn and grass, 

 scraping away the snow. Every evening after sunset, the wild geese repair 

 to ponds and rivers, where they pass the night, that they may enjoy security. 

 Their habits, in this respect, are very different from those of ducks, which 

 go, during the night, to pasture in the fields, and do not return to the water, 

 but when the geese quit it. It is only diu-ing not very severe winters, that 

 the wild geese remain any time in temperate climates ; for when the rivers 

 are frozen, they advance more southward, whence they retire towards the 

 end of March, to return to the north, and proceed into the most elevated 

 latitudes, to Spitzbergen, Greenland, to the shores of the Frozen Ocean, and 

 to Hudson's Bay, — where their fat and dung constitute a resource fur the 

 hardy inhabitants. 



The geese have good sight, very fine hearing, and their vigilance is so 

 great that they are never taken at fault. While they are eating, or 

 sleeping, there is always a sentinel in the troop, who, with his neck 

 stretched out, and head in the air, is ready to give the signal of danger. U 

 we add to these signs of intelligence, and to the remarks already made on 

 the arrangement of their order of flight, the signal proofs of attachment. 



