CHAPTER X 

 WILD GEESE 



Readily Tamed. It is a surprise to many who consider 

 wild geese the type of inherent wildness that in reahty they 

 are tamed more readily than ahnost any other wild bird; 

 even than ducks, submitting even in shorter time and be- 

 coming more absolutely familiar. This is notably true of 

 the common wild goose or Canada goose. Wing-tipped 

 geese which are captured wiU in a short time become so 

 tame that they will hardly get out of the way. 



Anomaly. It is a curious anomaly, however, that while 

 the Canada goose, as a species, breeds readily in captivity, 

 all the other species of native wild geese are very hard to 

 breed, notwithstanding the fact that they all become per- 

 fectly tame. The snow goose and the white-fronted goose 

 have occasionally, though infrequently, bred successfully 

 in captivity. Even when they lay eggs, these are seldom 

 fertile. The common brant becomes very tame and mates, 

 but I have never learned of an instance of its even laying 

 eggs in captivity. If the same analogy holds as with the 

 ducks, the secret should lie in the matter of feeding and of 

 furnishing suitable nesting-sites, and it ought to be possible 

 to solve the problem. It has, however, been suggested to 

 me as a possible explanation of failure to breed in captivity 

 that some wildfowl are supposed to copulate habitually in 

 the air, and thus might not when unable to fly. Such mat- 

 ters now attract so much popular interest that it is to be 



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