CANADA GOOSE. 
77 
food being* the broad tender green leaves of a marine plant 
which grows on stones and shells, and is usually called sea 
cabbage ; and also the roots of the sedge, which they are fre- 
quently observed in the act of tearing up. Every few days 
they make an excursion to the inlets on the beach for gravel. 
They cross, indiscriminately, over land or water, generally 
taking the nearest course to their object ; differing in this re- 
spect from the brant, which will often go a great way round by 
water rather than cross over the land. They swim well ; and, 
if wing-broken, dive and go a long way under water, causing 
the sportsman a great deal of fatigue before he can kill them. 
Except in very calm weather, they rarely sleep on the water, 
but roost all night in the marshes. When the shallow bays 
are frozen, they seek the mouths of inlets near the sea, occa- 
sionally visiting the air holes in the ice ; but these bays are 
seldom so completely frozen as to prevent them from feeding 
on the bars. 
The flight of the wild geese is heavy and laborious, gener- 
ally in a straight line, or in two lines approximating to a point, 
thus, > ; in both cases, the van is led by an old gander, who, 
every now and then, pipes his well-known Jionk^ as if to ask 
how they come on, and the honk of “alFs well” is generally 
returned by some of the party. Their course is in a straight 
line, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. 
When bewildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes 
to be in great distress, flying about in an irregular manner, and 
for a considerable time over the same quarter, making a great 
clamour. On these occasions, should they approach the earth, 
and alight, which they sometimes do, to rest and recollect them- 
selves, the only hospitality they meet with is death and de- 
struction from a whole neighbourhood already in arms for their 
ruin. 
Wounded geese have, in numerous instances, been com- 
pletely domesticated, and readily pair with the tame grey 
geese. The offspring are said to be larger than either ; but 
the characteristic marks of the wild goose still predominate. 
