THE CANADA GANDER. 
359 
in return; sometimes Riding behind a bush, or concealing 
itself in the shrubs, and springing unexpectedly in the midst 
of them, and then purr and rub itself against their sides. One 
pullet, in particular, was an especial favourite ; it accompanied 
her every day to her nest, which was under the hoards of an 
out-house, and would then lie down at a short distance. The 
person who first noticed this circumstance, was in the habit 
of feeding the kitten, and it was therefore less shy with him 
than any one else ; he had observed it in the position de- 
scribed without perceiving the pullet, hut when he did, he 
was induced to watch whether it remained there, after she 
had left her nest. He at length observed her fly off and join 
the other fowls, when the kitten immediately left its place and 
followed the pullet, setting up its tail and purring as if much 
pleased. It however did not confine itself to one set of 
chickens only, hut every fresh brood excited its interest, and 
was more or less taken under its protection, the parent hen 
not appearing the least alarmed. 
The Canada Geese appear to he peculiarly susceptible birds, 
and will sometimes make up by imagination or fancy what 
is deficient in reality. Thus, a Canada Gander in a noble- 
man’s park, near Windsor, having no mate, for two Springs 
regularly mounted guard opposite a drawbridge, in front of a 
thicket, where, it was clear, he imagined there was a nest, 
and defended the approaches very courageously, continuing 
this ideal defence till the first brood of ducklings appeared 
from some other quarter, which he immediately took under 
his protection; and in the second year he thus actually 
chaperoned twenty-five. It should be added, that there was 
no nest of any kind whatever within the precincts which he 
so strenuously guarded. 
But if, in this case, we may smile at the old Gander’s 
fancy and credulity, in believing eggs to be hatching where 
none were laid, we can quote another, showing that a Goose 
is occasionally possessed of a keen sense, enabling her to 
detect imposition, and distinguish her own eggs from others 
closely resembling them. A Goose, belonging to a clergy- 
man in Cheshire, was set (as it is termed) on six or eight 
