WILD GEESE. 265 



measured, and lofty flight. According to Temminck, "the Wild 

 Groose inhabits the seas, coasts, and marshes of eastern countries, 

 seldom advancing northward beyond the fifty-third degree ; it is 

 abundant in Germany and in Central Europe ; occasionally, in its 

 migrations, it halts in small numbers in Holland." Those which 

 visit France are the harbingers of the frost ; and when they make 

 an early appearance, it is well known that the winter wiU be a 

 severe one. 



Although they live little in the water, Wild Geese repair every 

 evening to the ponds and rivers in their neighbourhoods to pass 

 the night ; so that the Wild Goose only takes to the water when 

 the Wild Duck is leaving it. These birds are very difficult to 

 shoot in consequence of their loftj' flight, from which they only 

 descend when they see the water on which they are to pass the 

 night. Even then their excessive caution renders nearly useless 

 all the stratagems of the sportsman. The attempt is sometimes 

 made to take them in the evening with nets, the wild ones 

 being attracted by means of tame Geese, which are trained to act 

 as decoys. 



The Ostiacs, on the banks of the Obi, in Siberia, pile up the snow, 

 and, with the addition of branches, construct small huts. Near 

 these they place some stufied birds in the water ; the Wild Geese 

 dart on these and peck them to pieces. While thus busily occu- 

 pied, they can easily be shot or taken with nets. 



But the most curious and difficult mode of capturing them is 

 that followed by the adventurous inhabitants of St. Kilda, a little 

 islet on the west coast of Scotland. Wild Geese of several species 

 make their nests there in large flocks at the foot of the sea-washed 

 rocks which surround the island. It is very doubtful if the 

 Wild Goose, Anser ferus, is found among these. Both for 

 strength and economj^, the inhabitants use a cord made of thongs 

 of twisted cow-hide covered with sheep-skin. With a rope of 

 this description, two men climb to the top of a cliff ; there they 

 fasten themselves to either end of the cord ; then one lets him- 

 self down over the face of the clifi', and the other clings to 

 the rugged points above. The first man fills a sack with the 

 eggs, and suspends by their claws as many goslings as he can 

 hang to various parts of his person. When he has made his 



