ANAS. 
many ; and it is not very uncommon in 
England. It is as familiar, breeds as freely, 
and is in every respect as valuable as the 
common goose : it is also accounted a great 
ornament on ponds near gentlemen's seats. 
Mr. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, gives 
the . following interesting account of the 
mode of taking the Canada goose in Hud- 
son’s Bay : “ The English of Hudson’s 
Bay depend greatly on geese, of these and 
other kinds, for their support ; and, in fa- 
vourable years, kill three or four thousand, 
which they salt and barrel. Their arrival 
is impatiently attended ; it is the harbinger 
of the spring, and the month named by the 
Indians the Goose Moon. They appear 
usually at our settlements in numbers, about 
St, George’s Day, O. S., and fly northward 
to nestle in security. They prefer islands 
to the continent, as further from the haunts 
of men. Thus, Marble Island was found, 
in August, to swarm with swans, geese, and 
ducks ; the old ones moulting, and the 
young at that time incapable of flying.” 
* The English send out their servants, as 
well as Indians, to shoot these birds on then- 
passage. It is in vain to pursue them : they 
therefore form a row of huts made of 
boughs, at musquet-shot distance from each 
other, and place them in a line across the 
vast marshes of the country, Each hovel, 
or, as they are called, stand, is occupied 
hy only a single person. These attend 
the flight of the birds, and, on their ap- 
proach, mimic their cackle so well, that 
the geese will answer, and wheel and come 
nearer the stand. The sportsman keeps 
motionless, and on his knees, with his gun 
cocked, the whole time, and never fires till 
he has seen the eyes of the geese. He 
fires as they are going from him, then picks 
up another gun that lies by him, and dis- 
charges that. The geese which he lias 
killed he sets up on sticks, as if alive, to 
decoy others; he also makes artificial birds 
for the same purpose. In a good day (for 
they fly in very uncertain and unequal num- 
bers) a single Indian will kill two hundred. 
Notwithstanding every species of goose has 
a different call, yet the Indians are admi- 
rable in their imitation of every one.” — 
“ The vernal flight of the geese lasts from 
the middle of April until the middle of 
May. Their first appearance coincides 
with the thawing of the swamps, when they 
are very lean. The autumnal, or the sea- 
son of their return with their young, is from 
the middle of August to the middle of Oc- 
tober. Those which are taken in this latter 
season, when the frosts usually begin, ars 
preserved in their feathers, and left to be 
frozen, for the fresh provisions of the win- 
ter stock. The feathers constitute an article 
of commerce, and are sent into England.” 
Anas Anser, or tame goose. To describe 
tne varied plumage and the economy of 
this well-known and valuable domestic fowl, 
may seem to many a needless task ; but to 
others, unacquainted with rural affairs, it 
may be interesting. Their predominant co- 
lours are white' and grey, with shades of 
ash, blue, and brown : some of them are 
yellowish, others dusky, and many are 
found to differ very little in appearance 
from the wild kind last described — the ori- 
ginal stock whence, in early times, they 
were all derived. The only permanent 
mark, which all the grey ones still retain, 
like those of the wild kind, is the white 
ring which surrounds the root of the tail. 
They are generally furnished with a small 
tuft on the head, and the most usual colour 
of the males (gander or stig) is pure white : 
the bills and feet in both males and females 
are of an orange-red. By studied attention 
in the breeding, two sorts of these geese 
have been obtained : the less are by many 
esteemed as being more delicate eating ; the 
larger are by others preferred on account of 
the bountiful appearance they make upon 
the festive board. The average weight of 
the latter kind is between nine and fifteen 
pounds ; but instances are not wanting, 
where they have been fed to upwards of 
twenty pounds : this is, however, to 'sacri- 
fice the flavour of the food to the size and 
appearance of the bird, for they become 
disgustingly fat and surfeiting, and the me- 
thods used to cram them up are unnatural 
and cruel. It is not, however, altogether 
on account of their use as food that they 
are valuable ; their feathers, their down, 
and their quills have long been considered 
as articles of more importance, and from 
which their owners reap more advantages. In 
this respect the poor creatures have not 
been spared ; urged by avarice, their inhu- 
man masters appear to have ascertained the 
exact quantity of plumage of which they 
can bear to be robbed, without being de- 
prived of life. Mr, Pennant, in describing 
the methods used in Lincolnshire, in breed- 
ing, rearing, and plucking geese, says, 
“ they are plucked five times in the year ; 
first at Lady-day for the feathers and quills : 
this business is renewed for the feathers 
only, four times more between that and Mi- 
chaelmas he adds, that he saw the ope- 
