CANADA GOOSE. 
179 
Wounded geese have, in numerous instances, been 
completely domesticated, and readily pair with the tame 
gray geese. The offspring are said to be larger than 
either ; but the characteristic marks of the wild goose 
still predominate. The gunners on the sea shore have 
long been in the practice of taming the wounded of both 
sexes, and have sometimes succeeded in getting them to 
pair and produce. The female always seeks out the 
most solitary place for her nest, not far from the water. 
On the approach of every spring, however, these birds 
discover symptoms of great uneasiness, frequently 
looking up into the air, and attempting to go off. Some 
whose wings have been closely cut, have travelled on 
foot in a northern direction, and have been found at the 
distance of several miles from home. They hail every 
dock that passes overhead, and the salute is sure to be 
returned by the voyagers, who are only prevented from 
alighting among them by the presence and habitations 
of man. The gunners take one or two of these domes- 
ticated geese with them to those parts of the marshes 
over which the wild ones are accustomed to dy ; and, 
concealing themselves within gunshot, wait for a dighf, 
which is no sooner perceived by the decoy geese, than 
they begin calling aloud, until the whole dock approaches 
so near as to give them an opportunity of discharging 
two and sometimes three loaded muskets among it, by 
which great havoc is made. 
The wild goose, when in good order, weighs from 
ten to twelve, and sometimes fourteen pounds. They 
are sold in the Philadelphia markets at from seventy- 
five cents to one dollar each ; and are estimated to 
yield half a pound of feathers a-piece, which produces 
twenty-five or thirty cents more. 
The Canada goose is now domesticated in numerous 
quarters of the country, and is remarked for being 
extremely watchful, and more sensible of approaching 
changes in the atmosphere than the common gray 
goose. In England, France, and Germany, they have 
also been long ago domesticated. Buffon, in his account 
of this bird, observes, <s within these few years, many 
