110 



THE CANADA GOOSE. 



autumn, when they re-appear, without any ad- 

 dition to the flock, or diminution of it. This is 

 much to be wondered at; and I would fain 

 hazard a conjecture that their young may pos- 

 sibly be captured in the place where they have 

 been hatched, and then pinioned to prevent 

 escape. But, after all, this is mere speculation. 

 We know nothing of the habits of our birds of 

 passage when they are absent from us ; and we 

 cannot account how it comes to pass that the 

 birds just mentioned invariably return to this 

 country without any perceptible increase of 

 numbers; or, if the original birds die or are 

 destroyed, why it is that the successors arrive 

 here in the same numbers as their predecessors. 



Geese and swans may be taken without any 

 difficulty about a fortnight after the sun has 

 entered the tropic of Cancer. At that period, 

 the large feathers of the wing drop off, and a 

 month must elapse before the new ones arrive 

 at a state of sufficient maturity to bear away 

 the bird in flight. Two years ago, six of my 

 Canadians, having determined to stay here 

 during the summer, I watched them narrowly 

 at the time of moulting ; but they seemed so 

 aware of their helpless state, that they never 



