176 GEESE. 



Sunday to church by a Gander, taking hold of her 

 gown with its bill; when she had seated herself, it 

 retired to graze in the church-yard till she came out 

 again, when it led her home. One day, the clergy- 

 man called at her house, and, expressing his surprise 

 to her daughter, that her mother should venture 

 abroad, she replied, " Oh, sir! we are not afraid of 

 trusting her out of sight, for the Gander is with 

 her." We frankly own, that so strange and impro- 

 bable do the above stories appear, that we should 

 neither have inserted, nor paid them the slightest 

 attention, had we not the following testimony to their 

 credibility, for the accuracy of which we can vouch; 

 and deeply do we regret, that a better fate did not 

 await so extraordinary a bird, which, under more 

 intelligent observers, might have afforded opportu- 

 nities of ascertaining the extent of so unusual a 

 development of affection. 



A farmer in Cheshire possessed a flock of Geese, 

 one of which, at the end of about three years, 

 without any apparent cause, began to show a 

 peculiar partiality for its master. It first appeared 

 on the bird's quitting its companions in the barn- 

 yard or pond, and stalking after him. These symp- 

 toms became daily stronger, and in a short time, 

 wherever the farmer went, whether to the mill or 

 the blacksmith's-shop, or through the bustling streets 

 of a neighbouring manufacturing town, the Goose 

 was at his heels. So perseveringly did it follow his 

 steps, that if he wished to go out alone, he was 

 under the necessity of fastening up the bird. 



The farmer was in the habit of holding his own 

 plough, and on these occasions, the Goose as regu- 



