PLUCKING GEESE. 155 



during the time of sitting. A person called 

 a gozzard, i. e., goose-herd, attends the flock, 

 and twice a day drives the whole to water ; 

 then brings them back to their habitations, 

 helping those that live in the upper stories 

 to their nests, without ever misplacing a 

 single bird. 



" The geese are plucked five times in the 

 year : the first plucking is at Lady-day 

 (March 25), for feathers and quills ; and the 

 same is renewed four times more between 

 that and Michaelmas (Sept. 29), for the 

 feathers only. The old geese submit quiet- 

 ly to the operation, but the young ones are 

 very noisy and unruly. I once saw this per- 

 formed, and observed that goslings of six 

 weeks old were not spared ; for their tails 

 were plucked, as I was told, to habituate 

 them early to what they were to come to. 

 If the season proves cold, numbers of the 

 geese die by this barbarous custom. When 

 the flocks are numerous, about ten pluckers 

 are employed, each with a coarse apron up 

 to his chin. 



" Vast numbers of geese are driven annual- 



