THE SWIMMERS. 1 35 



much esteemed, and the feathers form an important article of commerce. The call of the Canada 

 Goose resembles the syllables, " Hawk, hawk, hawk, awhawk, awhawk," 



THE SNOW GOOSE. 



The Snow Goose (Anser \_Chen] hyperboreus) has the entire plumage of a pure white, with the 

 exception of the first ten quills, which are black, with white roots, and white shafts tipped with black. 

 In young birds the feathers on the upper back, shoulders, a portion of the neck, the breast, and sides 

 are blackish grey ; the head and nape are shaded with grey ; the lower back and feathers on the upper 

 tail-covers are dark grey; the primary and secondary quills greyish black, the latter bordered with 

 greyish white ; the tail-feathers are also dark grey, and similarly edged. The eye is dark brown, the 

 beak dull pale red, edged with black, and the foot pale bright red. This species is from twenty-six 

 to twenty-seven inches long, and from fifty-two to fifty-three broad ; the wing measures sixteen and 

 the tail six inches. 



"The young of this species," says Audubon, "begin to acquire their whiteness about the head 

 and neck after the first year, but the upper parts remain of a dark blueish colour until the bird 

 suddenly becomes white all over, at least this is the case with such as are kept in captivity. My 

 friend Dr. Bachman, of Charleston, South Carolina, kept a male Snow Goose several years along 

 with his tame Geese. He had received it from a friend 'while it was in its grey plumage, and the 

 following spring it became white. It had been procured in the autumn, and proved to be a male. 

 In a few days it became very gentle, and for several years it mated with a Common Goose, but the 

 eggs produced by the latter never hatched. The Snow Goose was in the habit of daily frequenting 

 a mill-pond in the vicinity, and returning regularly at night along with the rest ; but in the beginning 

 of each spring it occasioned much trouble. It then continually raised its head and wings, and 

 attempted to fly off; but finding this impossible, it was anxious to perform its journey on foot, and it 

 was several times overtaken and brought back, after it had proceeded more than a mile, having 

 crossed fences and plantations in a direct course northward. This propensity cost it its life ; it had 

 proceeded as far as the banks of the Cooper River, when it was shot by a person who supposed it to 

 be a wild bird." A Snow Goose kept by Audubon himself exhibited the same desire to go northward 

 on the return of spring. 



When migrating northward, although they start at the same time, the young and old keep in 

 separate flocks, the young continuing to remain apart from the old even when approaching the 

 higher latitudes. During the whole winter, indeed, they remain divided, although in the same 

 localities ; and Audubon informs us that, although the young and old are often seen to repose on the 

 same sand-bar, the flocks keep at as great a distance as possible from each other. 



The SEA GEESE (Bernida) are comparatively small, compactly-built birds, with short necks 

 and moderately large heads ; the short delicate beak is strong, broad and high at its base, slender 

 towards its tip, and slightly denticulated at its margins; the foot is low, but powerful; and the wing so 

 long as to extend as far as the tip of the short tail, which is rounded at its extremity. The thick 

 plumage is principally of a deep grey, marked with black, white, and reddish brown. These Geese are 

 met with in the extreme north of Europe, Asia, and America ; the American, formerly considered as 

 distinct from the European, being evidently only a variety. The home of these birds is to be found 

 upon the coasts and islands situated between 6o° and So° of north latitude. Only a few breed in 

 Iceland ; but in Spitzbergen they are very numerous, and further east they abound throughout die 

 summer along all the shores of the Icy Ocean ; they are likewise numerous in Hudson's Bay and the 

 neighbouring waters. From the above inhospitable regions the}- make annual pilgrimages to warmer 



