226 THE CHINA GOOSE. 



better be got rid of. Both male and female are, perhaps, 

 the most noisy of all geese ; at night, the least footfall or 

 motion in their neighborhood is sufficient to call forth 

 their clanging and resonant trumpetings. This, to a lone 

 country house, is an advantage and a protection. Any 

 fowl stealer would be stunned with their din before he 

 captured them alive, and the family must be deaf indeed 

 that could sleep on through the alarm thus given. But 

 by day it becomes a nuisance to the majority of hearers, 

 and has caused them to be relinquished by many ama- 

 teurs. One is inclined to address them as O'Connell did 

 the uproarious fellow who was interrupting his speech, 

 " I wish you had a hot potato in your mouth." 



BREEDING AND REARING. 



The eggs of the China goose are somewhat less than 

 those of the domestic kind, of a short oval, with a smooth 

 thick shell, white, but slightly tinged with yellow at the 

 smaller end. The goslings, when first hatched, are usu- 

 ally very strong. They are of a dirty-green, like the 

 color produced by mixing Indian ink and yellow ochre, 

 with darker patches here and there. The legs and feet 

 are lead color, but afterwards change to a dull-red. If 

 there is anything like good pasturage for them, they 

 requir no further attention than what their parents will 

 afford them. After a time, a little grain will strengthen 

 and forward them. If well fed, they come to maturity 

 very rapidly. In between three and four months from the 

 time of their leaving the shell, they will be full-grown 

 and ready for the spit. They do not bear being shut up 

 to fatten so well as common geese, and therefore those 

 destined for the table are the better for profuse hand- 

 feeding. Their flesh is well-flavored, short and tender ; 

 their eggs are excellent for cooking purposes. Hybrids 

 between them and the common goose are prolific ; the 

 second and third cross is "much prized by some English 

 farmers, particularly for their ganders ; and in many 

 flocks, the blood of the China goose may often be traced 

 by the more erect gait of the birds, accompanied by a 

 faint stripe down the back of the neck. With the 



