662 CLASS AVES. 



goose is sonorous, and, like that of the crane, has been a fre- 

 quent source of comparison with the ancient poets. 



The flight of wild geese takes place without noise, and the 

 order in which it is performed, presupposes no small degree of 

 combination and intelligence. It is an arrangement the most 

 favovu-able for each individual to follow initsplace and preserve 

 its proper rank, and for the entire flock to cut the air with 

 the smallest degree of fatigue. They place themselves in two 

 oblique lines, forming an angle, or in a single line when the 

 troop is not very numerous. He who is at the head of the 

 angle, cuts the air first, retires to the last rank to repose him- 

 self when fatigued, and the others take his place in their 

 turns. There are certain points, so to speak, from which the 

 grand armies of these birds divide, to spread themselves 

 through different countries ; such are Mount Taurus relatively 

 to Asia Minor, and Mount Stella, where they repair in the 

 after-season, and from whence they disperse through Europe. 

 These secondary bands unite again, and form others, which, 

 to the number of four or five hundred, come sometimes in 

 winter, and alight upon our fields, where they feed upon the 

 corn and grass, scraping away the snow. 



Every evening, after sunset, the wild geese repair to ponds 

 and rivers, where they pass the night, that they may enjoy 

 security. Their habits, in this respect, are very different 

 from those of ducks, which go, during the night, to pasture 

 in the fields, and do not return to the water, but when the 

 geese quit it. This alone would be a sufficient reason to 

 warrant the separation of the genera Anos and Anser. 



It is only during not very severe winters, that the wild 

 geese remain any time in temperate climates ; for when the 

 rivers are frozen, they advance more southward, Avhence they 

 retire towards the end of March, to return to the north, and 

 proceed into the most elevated latitudes, to Spitzbergen, 



