WILD GEESE. 263 



from which the two principal bronchia have their origin. A close 

 examination of this organ in the Goose is supposed to have con- 

 tributed to the invention of certain wind instruments, such as the 

 flute, bassoon, bagpipes, clarionet, and even the organ. 



When attacked, the Goose makes a hissing noise similar to that 

 of some serpents. Endeavours have been made to express this 

 sound by the three Latin words strepit, gratitat, stridet. The 

 slightest noise wakes them up, when they at once give the signal 

 of alarm, which immediately warns the whole flock of approaching 

 danger. Thus, some authors have maintained that the Goose is more 

 vigilant than the Dog ; and in proof of this, instance the story of the 

 Geese of the Capitol, whose wakefulness saved the Romans from 



i'ig. 97. Wild Goose (Anscr ferus). 



an attempted assault on the part of the Gauls. The Roman people 

 were grateful enough to award an annual sum for the maintenance 

 of a certain number of Geese in the Capitol ; and on the anni- 

 versary of the day when their services had been so valuable, they 

 were in the habit of whipping the Dogs in front of the building, 

 as a retrospective punishment for their culpable carelessness. 



The Gauls, on the other hand, never pardoned the Goose for 

 having baffled their attack. Frenchmen, even in the present day, 

 possibly the descendants of the proud companions of Brennus, or of 

 the conquerors of Northern Italy, appear still to inherit this ances- 

 tral hatred. At some of the French village fetes they are in the 

 habit of hanging up Geese by the feet in order to cut through 

 their necks with a sword, or to beat them to death by hurling 



