CANADA GOOSE. 201 



geese generally preserve; the one before the other.* 

 Sometimes^ however, they are seen in much greater 

 numbers ; for captain Bass counted upwards of 300 

 Avithin a quarter of a mile, on a river near Port Dal- 

 rymple, in Bass Straights. It feeds chiefly on grass 

 and aquatic plants ; and its note has been compared to 

 the creaking of a rusty sign on a windy day. 



The size of the black swan is rather smaller than 

 the tame one ; and it has this peculiarity in its external 

 structure,— ^ that the tertials of the male, when in full 

 plumage, are curved upwards, in the same manner as 

 we see some of the ducks ; the bill of this sex, also, is 

 furnished with a prominent tubercle, which the other 

 has not : in both, however, the colour is bright red 

 above, but paler at the tip, and crossed towards the 

 middle by a whitish band : the primary quills, and 

 part of the secondaries, are pure white ; but the rest of 

 the plumage is of a deep glossy black, somewhat paler 

 on the belly and thighs. M^e believe this species, now 

 among the most common birds of our menageries, might 

 be bred in this country without much difficulty. 



The Canada Goose. 



Anser Canadensis, Richardson. (Fig. 31.) 



Canada Goose, Edwards, pi. 151. Pennant's Arctic Zool. ii. 544. 

 Wilson,'vm. 53. pi. 67. f. 4. Anser Canadensis, Bonap. Syn. 

 p. 377.' North. Zool. ii. 468. 



The bird whose natural history we shall now narrate, 

 is not only the most common of the wild geese found in 

 North America, but by far the most important ; since, 

 without the enormous supply of provisions which its 

 innumerable flocks annually afford to the inhabitants of 

 large provinces, thousands of families, in all probability, 

 would be abridged of that food absolutely necessary for 

 life. The history of such a bird is entitled to more 

 than ordinary at+ention ; but it can only be learned from 



* Voy. p. 137. 



