248 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



man, after mixing with the crowd which was moving about the town 

 he resided in, went into a barber's shop to get shaved. The faithful 

 bird had followed him, and waited at the door until his master came 

 out, in order to attend him in his subsequent movements, and then 

 accompanied him back to his home. This intelligent creature could 

 recognise its master's voice, although clothed in any disguise. 



In Germany a gander was in the habit of leading an old blind 

 woman to church every Sunday. It guided her by the skirt of her 

 dress, always conducting her to the seat in the church which she 

 usually occupied. Afterwards it returned into the churchyard to 



Fig. 91. — Canada Goose. 



browse upon the grass. When the service was over, it waited, just 

 like a faithful dog, to take charge of its mistress. One day, when the 

 minister called upon her and found her from home, he expressed his 

 astonishment that the poor blind woman should venture out alone. 

 " Ah, sir," replied her daughter, " we have no fears about her — the 

 gander is with her." Our blind people would make their fortune if 

 they could replace their traditional dog by a guide of this novel kind. 

 The Bean Goose {Anas segetum) of most authors differs from the 

 preceding in being somewhat smaller, and having the bill more 

 slender, although not much shorter ; the hind part of the back is also 

 dark brown. In its habits it closely resembles the Grey-lag Goose, 

 for which it has probably been frequently mistaken. Vast flocks of 

 this species frequent the northern waters, such as Montrose Bay, the 

 mouth of the Findhorn, and especially the inland waters of Ross 



