182 THE CANADA GOOSE. 



now the flock glides gently along. What a beautiful sight! Close by the 

 grassy margin, the mother slowly leads her innocent younglings; to one she 

 shews the seed of the floating grass, to another points out the crawling slug. 

 Her careful eye watches the cruel turtle, the garfish, and the pike, that are 

 lurking for their prey, and, with head inclined, she glances upwards to the 

 Eagle or the Gull that are hovering over the water in search of food. A 

 ferocious bird dashes at her young ones; she instantly plunges beneath the 

 surface, and, in the twinkling of an eye, her brood disappear after her; now 

 they are among the thick rushes, with nothing above water but their little 

 bills. The mother is marching towards the land, having lisped to her brood 

 in accents so gentle that none but they and her mate can understand their 

 import, and all are safely lodged under cover until the disappointed Eagle or 

 Gull bears away. 



More than six weeks have now elapsed. The down of the goslings, which 

 was at first soft and tufty, has become coarse and hairlike. Their wings are 

 edged with quills, and their bodies bristled with feathers. They have in- 

 creased in size, and, living in the midst of abundance, they have become fat, 

 so that on shore they make their way with difficulty, and as they are yet 

 unable to fly, the greatest care is required to save them from their numerous 

 enemies. They grow apace, and now the burning days of August are over. 

 They are able to fly with ease from one shore to another, and as each suc- 

 cessive night the hoarfrosts cover the country, and the streams are closed 

 over by the ice, the family joins that in their neighbourhood, which is also 

 joined by others. At length they spy the advance of a snow-storm, when 

 the ganders with one accord sound the order for their departure. 



After many wide circlings, the flock has risen high in the thin air, and an 

 hour or more is spent in teaching the young the order in which they are to 

 move. But now, the host has been marshalled, and off it starts, shewing, as 

 it proceeds, at one time an extended front, at another a single lengthened 

 file, and now arraying itself in an angular form. The old males advance in 

 front, the females follow, the young come in succession according to their 

 strength, the weakest forming the rear. Should one feel fatigued, his posi- 

 tion is changed in the ranks, and he assumes a place in the wake of another, 

 who cleaves the air before him; perhaps the parent bird flies for awhile by 

 his side to encourage him. Two, three, or more days elapse before they 

 reach a secure resting place. The fat with which they were loaded at their 

 departure has rapidly wasted; they are fatigued, and experience the keen 

 gnawings of hunger; but now they spy a wide estuary, towards which they 

 direct their course. Alighting on the water, they swim to the beach, stand, 

 and gaze around them; the young full of joy, the old full of fear, for well are 

 they aware that many foes have been waiting their arrival. Silent all night 



