Notes on Birds and Mammals. 129 
spawning-beds. After this spell of fasting, ablution and 
athletics have been gone through, the geese are evidently 
prepared for their long flight of many hundreds of miles to 
the south. On the first favourable opportunity, which means 
a fresh breeze of northerly or north-westerly wind, they 
take wing in batches of thirty or more, circling round until 
they attain a safe altitude and then bearing away before the 
wind on about a true southerly course, never resting, I 
believe, until they reach winter quarters, many hundred 
miles distant. The Canada goose, on the contrary, stops 
to feed by the way, especially on the lakes in which wild 
rice abounds, which brings both ducks and geese to a much 
finer condition for the table than any other kind of food 
that they can obtain. Both the blue and white wavy are 
excellent, wholesome food, and one of these with a pound 
of flour or bread forms a days rations much liked by the 
men, especially when fresh. Many thousands are cured 
by salting and packed in barrels for the use of the Hudson 
Bay Co’s. people, and the Indians of or near the coast, be- 
sides living upon them during a part of spring and autumn, 
“bone” and smoke-dry a great many for winter use, and 
also prepare much of the fat, to use with their hares 
or fish. 
Allkinds of grouse in Canada with which I am acquainted 
have the well known habit, during winter, of passing the 
night under the snow to protect themselves from the cold ; 
but possibly a practise which most of them more or less 
follow, when the snow is in the right condition for doing 
so, has not been generally observed. The bird is not con- 
tent to make its bed close to the door by which it has 
entered the snow, but generally bores a tunnel at the dis- 
tance of a few inches under the surface to a distance of 
three or more feet, before it settles down for the night. The 
reason why the bird should go through so much apparently 
useless labour—for its night’s bedroom would have been 
equally warm had it gone only a few inches beyond the 
door—was at first difficult of explanation, but a little more 
experience taught me to admire the intelligence of the 
