106 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS.—CLASS II. AVES. 
peaceful, perhaps a profound sleep, while, in polished nations, the man of 
ambition, stretched upon a bed of Kider-down, and under a gilded roof, 
seeks in vain to procure the sweets of repose.” 
Of the geese, the Wild or Canada Goose of America is a good example. 
This well-known bird passes through or over New England in the spring 
and autumn migrations, appearing in the former about the first week in 
April, and passing in flocks until the tenth of that month. In the autumn, 
it returns as early as the last week in September; and from then until the 
first of December, and even later, it passes in flocks in its southern migra- 
tions. The Wild Goose, as the rule, breeds in the most northern portions 
of the continent: it sometimes passes the season of incubation in the limits 
of the United States; but the occurrences are very few of its having been 
found to remain in New England. The nest is located in some retired place, 
not far from the water, generally among the thickest grass, and not un- 
frequently under a bush. It is carelessly formed of dry plants of various 
kinds, and is of a large size, flat, and raised to the height of several inches. 
The eggs are usually about six in number: they average three and a half 
oo 
inches by two and a half, are thick-shelled, rather smooth, and of a very 
dull yellowish-green color. The pericd of incubation is twenty-eight days. 
Wilson says of this bird, — 
“Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early in October; and 
their first numerous appearance is the sure prognostic of severe weather. 
Those which continue all winter frequent the shallow bays and marsh islands, 
their principal food being the broad, tender, green leaves of a marine plant, 
which grows on stones and shells, and is usually called sea-cabbage ; and 
also the roots of the sedge, which they are frequently observed in the act - 
of tearing up. Every few days they make an excursion to the inlets on the 
beach for gravel. They cross, indiscriminately, over land and water, een- 
erally taking the nearest course to their object, differing, in this respect, 
from the brant, which will often go a great way round by water, rather than 
cross oyer the land. They swim well; and, if wing-broken, dive, and go 
a long way under water, causing the sportsman a great deal of fatigue be- 
fore he can kill them. Except in very calm weather, they rarely sleep on 
the water, but roost all night in the marshes. When the shallow bays are 
frozen, they seek the mouths of inlets near the sea, occasionally visiting the 
air-holes in the ice; but these bays are seldom so completely frozen as to 
prevent them from feeding on the bars. 
“The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally in a 
straight line, or in two lines, approximating to a point, thus, >; in both 
vases, the van is led by an old gander, who, every now and then, pipes his 
well-known honk, as if to ask how they come on; and the honk of ‘ All's 
