BIRDS. 4.15 



L'pon their coming to the ground by day, they range them- 

 selves in a line, like cranes ; and seem rather to have descended 

 for rest, than for other refreshment. When they have sat in this 

 manner for an hour or two, I have heard one of them, with a 

 loud long note, sound a kind of charge, to which the rest punc- 

 tually attended, and they pursued their journey with renewed 

 alacrity. Their flight is very regularly arranged ; they either go 

 in a line abreast, or in two lines, joining in an angle in the mid- 

 dle. I doubt whether the form of their flight be thus arranged 

 to cut the air with greater ease, as is commonly believed ; I am 

 more apt to think it is to present a smaller mark to fowlers from 

 below. A bullet might easily reach them if huddled together 

 in a flock, and the same discharge might destroy several at once ; 

 but, by their manner of flying, no shot from below can afl!ect 

 above one of them ; and from the height at which they fly this 

 is not easy to be hit. 



The barnacle differs, in some respects, from both these ; be- 

 ing less than either, with a black bill, much shorter than either 

 of the preceding. It is scarcely necessary to combat the idle 

 error of this bird's being bred from a shell sticking to ships' 

 bottoms ; it is well known to be hatched from an egg in the 

 ordinary manner, and to differ in very few particulars from all 

 the rest of its kind. 



The Brent Goose is still less than the former, and not bigger 

 than a Muscovy duck, except that the body is longer. The 

 head, neck, and upper part of the breast are black ; but about 

 the middle of the neck, on each side, are two small spots or lines 

 of white, which together appear like a ring. 



These, and many other varieties,* are found in this kind, 



which domestic geese have exhibited on many occasions, we shiill pfrceivo 

 how little foundation there is for the popular opinion respoctinp their -stupi- 

 dity. This indeed, appears to have been funned merely iin external charac- 

 ters ; on their walk, their stretched out neck, papiuR' mouth, and the sound 

 of their voice, especially when they experience any terror. As these birds 

 Qy remarkably hi»,'h, and do not alight but when they are over waters, there 

 is considerable difficulty in shooting- them; and their extreme distrust renders 

 for the most part all the stratiigeras employed by fowlers of no avail. Our 

 common application of the proverb, "a wild-goose cha.se," sufficiently 

 proves this, and ought to do away with the vulgar prejudice respecting 

 tlieir stupidity. 



• The Snow Gonan. — This bird is about the size of the common goose. 

 Tlie upper mandjblc of the bill ij scarlet, and the lower oue whitish. Th« 



