CANADA GOOSE. 11 



of them some have been known to fly against beacons and Hghthouses, 

 dashing their heads against the walls in the middle of the day. In the 

 night they are attracted by the lights of these buildings, and now and then 

 a whole flock is caught on such occasions. At other times their migra- 

 tions northward are suddenly checked by a change of weather, the ap- 

 proach of which seems to be well known to them, for they will suddenly 

 wheel and fly back in a southern direction several hundred miles. In 

 this manner I have known flocks to return to the places which they had 

 left a fortnight before. Nay even during the winter months, they are 

 keenly sensible to changes of temperature, flying north or south in search 

 of feeding-grounds, with so much knowledge of the future state of the 

 weather, that one may be assured when he sees them proceeding south- 

 ward in the evening, that the next morning will be cold, and vice versa. 



The Canada Goose is less shy when met with far inland, than when 

 <m the sea-coast, and the smaller the ponds or lakes to v/hich they resort, 

 the more easy it is to approach them. They usually feed in the manner 

 of Swans and fresh-water Ducks, that is, by plunging their heads tov/ards 

 the bottom of shallow ponds or the borders of lakes and rivers, immersing 

 their fore parts, and frequently exhibiting their legs and feet with the 

 posterior portion of their body elevated in the air. They never dive on 

 such occasions. If feeding in the fields or meadows, they nip the blades 

 of grass sidewise, in the manner of the Domestic Goose, and after rainy 

 weather, they are frequently seen rapidly patting the earth with both 

 feet, as if to force the earth-worms from their burrows. If they dabble 

 at times with their bills in muddy water, in search of food, this action is 

 by no means so common with them as it is with Ducks, the Mallard for 

 example. They are extremely fond of alighting in corn-fields covered 

 with tender blades, where they often remain through the night and com- 

 mit great havoc. Wherever you find them, and however remote from 

 the haunts of man the place may be, they are at all times so vigilant and 

 suspicious, that it is extremely rare to surprise them. In keenness of 

 sight and acuteness of hearing, they are perhaps surpassed by no bird 

 whatever. They act as sentinels towards each other, and during the 

 hours at which the flock reposes, one or more ganders stand on the watch. 

 At the sight of cattle, horses, or animals of the deer kind, they are sel- 

 dom alarmed, but a bear or a cougar is instantly announced, and if on 

 such occasions the flock is on the ground near water, the birds imme- 

 diately betake themselves in silence to the lattei', swim to the middle of 



