.CANADA GOOSE. 545 



northward to neftle in fecurity. They prefer iHands to the con- 

 tinent, as further from the haunts of men. Thus Marble IJland 

 was found, in Juguft, to fwarm with Swans, Geefe, and Ducks ; 

 the old ones moulting, and the young at that time incapable of 

 flying *. 



The Engljjh fend out their fervants, as well as Indians^ to fhoot 

 thefe birds on their pafTage. It is in vain to purfue them : they 

 therefore form a row of huts made of boughs, at mufquet-fhot dif- 

 tance from each other, and place them in a line acrofs the vaft 

 marflies of the country. Each hovel, or, as they are called, ftand, is 

 occupied by only a fingle perfon. Thefe attend the flight of the birds, 

 and on their approach mimic their cackle fo well, that the Geefe will 

 anfwer, and wheel and come nearer the ftand. The fportfman keeps 

 motionlefs, and on his knees, with his gun cocked, the whole time ; 

 and never fires till he has feen the eyes of the Geefe. He fires as they 

 are going from him, then picks up another gun that lies by him, 

 and difcharges that. The Geefe which he has killed, he fets up on 

 flicks as if alive, to decoy others ; he alfo makes artificial birds for 

 the fame purpofe. In a good day (for they fly in very uncertain 

 and unequal numbers) a fingle Indian will kill two hundred. Not- 

 withftanding every fpecies of Goofe has a different call, yet the 

 Indians are admirable in their imitation of every one. 



The vernal flight of the Geefe lafts, from the middle of ^n7 un- 

 til the middle of May^ Their firfi: appearance coincides with the 

 thawing of the fwamps, when they are very lean. The autumnal, 

 or the feafon of their return- with their young, is from the middle 

 of Augufi to the middle of OStober f. Thofe which are taken in 

 this latter feafon, when the frofts ufually begin, are preferved in 

 their feathers, and left to be frozen for the frefli provifions of the 

 winter flock. The feathers conftitute an article of commerce, and 

 are fent into England. 



4 A Bf» 



