THE DOMESTIC GOOSE. 227 



Friendly attention. 



ment; the grey .one was always the stronger: I 

 took part with my Jacquot, who was under ; I 

 set him over his rival ; he was thrown ; I set him 

 up again. In this way they fought eleven mi- 

 nutes ; and, by the assistance which I gave him, 

 he at last obtained the advantage, and got pos- 

 session of the three dames. When my friend 

 Jacquot saw himself master, he would not ven- 

 ture to leave his females, and therefore no longer 

 caine to me when I passed : he only gave me at 

 a distance many tokens of friendship, shouting 

 and clapping his wings; but would not quit 

 his companions, lest, perhaps, his rival should 

 take possession. Things went on in this way 

 till the breeding season, and he never gab- 

 bled to me but at a distance. When his females, 

 however, began to sit, he left them, and redou- 

 bled his friendship to me. One day, having fol- 

 lowed me as far as the ice-house at the top of 

 the park, the spot where I must necessarily part 

 with him in pursuing my way to a wood at half 

 a league distance, I shut him in the park. He 

 no sooner saw himself separated from me, than 

 he vented strange cries. However,, I went on 

 my road ; and had advanced about a third of the 

 distance, when the noise of a heavy flight made 

 me turn my head: I saw my Jacquot, only four 

 paces from me. He followed me all the way, 

 partly on foot, partly on wing; getting before 

 me and stopping at the cross-paths to see. which 

 way I should take. Our journey lasted from ten 



