40 ANATIDiE. 



the gander habitually replied, and, in one instance, it was feared he 

 had bade adieu to the place, as he took wing and joined a flock 

 liigh in the air ; but, after holding a little converse with tliem, 

 he returned like a true lover to his mate. This gander, perhaps 

 in right of a higher descent than his associates who merely " walk 

 the earth," at once, when put with the common geese, took the 

 lead of the herd, sometimes numbering fifty or more, always heading 

 them and keeping about two yards in advance. None of the tame 

 ganders had ever the bad taste to dispute the chieftainship with 

 him, and he proved a trustworthy guardian, as when his associates 

 made an occasional sally into a corn-field he took Ids station 

 on the fence, and sounded an alarm when the enemy was seen 

 approacliing. 



At Spriugmount, in fine open weather, a wild bean goose 

 alighted beside a flock of tame geese, so close to the dwelling- 

 house that it was shot from the back-door. A bird of this species 

 wounded there soon recovered the use of its wings, and would 

 fly away and remain absent for a few days, but always returned, 

 until eventually killed on one of these experimental trips. It 

 was there for part of a season with the hero of the preceding nar- 

 rative. " In the spring of 183S a wild goose, which had evidently 

 been wounded, remained after the others had departed, and was 

 seen feeding on the marshy lands of Bella, the residence of the late 

 Edward French, Esq., near Frenchpark, and frequently joining 

 company with some tame geese belonging to a tenant of that 

 gentleman. After some time it walked into the farm-yard with 

 its newly-formed acquaintance, and became quite domesticated." "^ 

 A wild goose caught during a heavy fall of snow at Mourne 

 (Down), in the winter of 1845, associated freely with a farmer's 

 geese during tlie following spring and summer. In the suc- 

 ceeding spring, however, its wing, which had been clipped, 

 recovered from the mutilation, and the bird, taking to flight, was 

 heard of no more until the following autumn, when it (or a goose be- 

 lieved to be the same) paid a passing visit to its former associates by 



* Mr. G, Jackson. 



