CANADA GOOSE. 9 



individuals, went on prosperously. In December the weather became in- 

 tensely cold, and I observed that now and then the gander woidd spread 

 his wings, and sound a loud note, to which the female first, and then all 

 the young ones in succession, would respond, when they M'ould all run 

 as far as the ground allowed them in a southerly direction, and attempt 

 to fly oiF. 1 kept the whole flock three years. The old pair never 

 bred while in my possession, but two pairs of the young ones did, one 

 of them raising three, the other seven. They all bore a special enmity 

 to dogs, and shewed dislike to cats ; but they manifested a still greater 

 animosity towards an old swan and a wild turkey-cock which I had. I 

 found them useful in clearing the garden of slugs and snails ; and al- 

 though they now and then nipped the vegetables, I liked their company. 

 When I left Henderson, my flock of geese was given away, and I have 

 not since heard how it has fared with them. 



On one of my shooting excursion.s in the same neighbourhood, I chan- 

 ced one day to kill a wild Canada Goose, which, on my return, was sent 

 to the kitchen. The cook, while dressing it, found in it an egg ready 

 for being laid, and brought it to me. It was placed under a common 

 hen, and in due time hatched. Two years afterwards the bird thus rais- 

 ed, mated with a male of the same species, and produced a brood. This 

 goose was so gentle that she would suffer any person to caress her, and 

 would readily feed from the hand. She was smaller than usual, but in 

 every other respect as perfect as any I have ever seen. At the period of 

 migration she shewed by her movements less desire to fly off" than any 

 other I have known ; but her mate, who had once been free, did not pai'- 

 ticipate in this apathy. 



I have not been able to discover why many of those birds which 1 have 

 known to have been reared from the egg, or to have been found when very 

 young and brought up in captivity, were so averse to reproduce, unless 

 they were naturally sterile. I have seen several that had been kept for more 

 than eight years, without ever mating during that period, while other indi- 

 viduals had young the second spring after their birth. I have also observed 

 that an impatient male would sometimes abandon the females of his species, 

 and pay his addresses to a common tame goose, by which a brood would 

 in due time be brought up, and would thrive. That this tardiness is not 

 the case in the wild state I feel pretty confident, for I have observed ha- 

 ving broods of their own many individuals which, by their size, the dui- 

 iiess of their plumage, and such other marks as are known to the practi- 



