CANADA GOOSE. 68 



islands ; their principal food being the broad tender green leaves of a 

 marine plant which grows on stones and shells, and is usually called 

 sea-cabbage ; and also the roots of the sedge, which they are frequently 

 observed in the act of tearing up. Every few days they make an eji- 

 cursion to the inlets on the beach for gravel. They cross, indiscrimi- 

 nately, over land or water, generally taking the nearest course to their 

 object ; differing in this respect from the Brant, which will often go a 

 great way round by water rather than cross over the land. They swim 

 well ; and if wing-broken, dive and go a great way under water, causing 

 the sportsman a great deal of fatigue before he can kill them. Except 

 in very calm weather they rarely sleep on the water, but roost all night 

 in the marshes. When the shallow bays are frozen, they seek the 

 mouths of inlets near the sea, occasionally visiting the air holes in the 

 ice ; but these bays are seldom so completely frozen as to prevent them 

 from feeding on the bars. 



The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, generally in a 

 straight line, or in two lines approximating to a point, thus >- ; in both 

 cases the van is led by an old gander, who every now and then pipes his 

 well known honk, as if to ask how they come on, and the honk of " all's 

 well " is generally returned by some of the party. Their course is in a 

 straight line, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. 

 When bewildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes to be in great 

 distress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a considerable time 

 over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions 

 should they approach the earth, and alight, which they sometimes do, 

 to rest and re-collect themselves, the only hospitality they meet with is 

 death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms for 

 their ruin. 



Wounded Geese have, in numerous instances, been completely domes- 

 ticated, and readily pair with the tame Gray Geese. The offspring are 

 said to be larger than either ; but the characteristic marks of the Wild 

 Goose still predominate. The gunners on the seashore have long been 

 in the practice of taming the wounded of both sexes, and have some- 

 times succeeded in getting them to pair and produce. The female 

 always seeks out the most solitary place for her nest, not far from the 

 water. On the approach of every spring, however, these birds discover 

 symptoms of great uneasiness, frequently looking up into the air, and 

 attempting to go ofi". Some whose wings have been closely cut, have 

 travelled on foot in a northern direction, and have been found at the 

 distance of several miles from home. They hail every flock that passes 

 overhead, and the salute is sure to be returned by the voyagers, who are 

 only prevented from alighting among them by the presence and habita- 

 tions of man. The gunners take one or two of those domesticated 

 Geese with them to those parts of the marshes over which the wild ones 



