GREY LAG GOOSE. Crass I) 
son’s-Bay, Greenland, Iceland and Norway ; 
our own islands west of Scotland breed numbers 
of these birds, and offer a profitable branch of 
trade to the poor inhabitants. Hudson’s-Bay 
also furnishes a very fine feather, supposed to be 
of the goose kind. 
The down of the swan is brought from Dané- 
zic. ‘The same place also sends us a considera- 
ble supply of the feathers of the cock and hen. 
The London poulterers sell a great quantity of 
the feathers of those birds, and of ducks and 
turkies ; those of ducks being a weaker feather, 
are inferior to those of the goose; turkey’s fea- 
thers are the worst of any. 
The best method of curing feathers is to lay 
them in a room in an exposure to the sun, and 
when dried to put them in bags, and beat them 
well with poles to get the dirt off. 
We have often been surprized that no experi- 
ments had been made on the feathers of the 
Auk tribe, as such numbers resort to our rocks 
annually, and promise, from the appearance of 
their plumage, to furnish a warm and soft fea- 
ther; but we have lately been informed, that 
some unsuccessful trials have been made at 
Glasgow: a gentleman who had visited the 
Western isles, and brought some of the feathers 
home with a laudable design of promoting the 
