CANADA GOOSE-SHOOTING. 281 



of the oldest inhabitant, and amateur iisherman, or the 

 owner of a setter dog. It is a matter of tdstory of a 

 goose in captivity being killed at the age of 80 years,, 

 necessity compelling his removal at that tender age, on 

 account of his miachievousness. Think of it ! Having 

 to be killed at the age of 80 because of mischievousness. 

 It does seem, that at that time of life, childish and 

 youthful tricks ought to have been discarded ; but for 

 aught we know, this same goose may have been in its 

 earliest childhood ; perhaps even the age of adolescence 

 had not been reached. And what age he might have 

 attained, had he not by his own playful indiscretions in- 

 vited his own destruction, it is impossible to predict. 

 After being acquainted with the sad decapitation of the 

 departed goose, cut off in the spring-time of his earthly 

 career, I am fully convinced of the extreme age many 

 old ganders I have killed must have reached. One 

 in particular, I have in mind. At the time of 

 his dissolution and when compelled to bid adieu 

 to all worldly affairs he was the leader of a large flock, 

 coming into my decoys. His unmense size, appearing 

 almost a third larger than his companions, at once at- 

 tracted my attention. At the report of my gun he fell 

 with a loud thud on the frozen ground. When I picked, 

 him up, his every appearance convinced me that he was 

 a patriarch ; little gray hairs streaked through the 

 glossy black on his head, around his eyes tiny wrinkles 

 were visible — everything in fact satisfied me that his 

 age was great. His enlarged neck, his body weighing 

 13 pounds, and his general appearance filled me with 

 awe, not unmixed with admiration j and the thought 

 occurred to me, that if a goose at the tender age of 80 

 years is killed because of mischievousness, how old must. 



