114 
NATURE STUDY. 
from their course and were circling about the city. On one oc¬ 
casion these long-necked graceful birds were watched from the 
car window of an express of forty miles an hour; they kept along 
for several miles in a parallel line with the train, with no appar¬ 
ent effort, in strong, even flight, until they were cut off from view 
by a bit of woods. 
Mr. Isaac Huse, of our city, for several years, had a flock of 
these Canada geese. The original were wounded in the wing, 
and brought down. As their flight was thus prevented, they 
settled down contentedly on the shores of an artificial pond near 
Mr. Huse’s home. Here they raised their young, brooding 
them on the small islands in the pond, where they were undis¬ 
turbed. The young birds had their quills cut each year, and 
were thus prevent'd from flying until their new feathers grew 
out the following summer, when they enjoyed a few weeks of 
freedom. During these weeks, as their wings grew stronger, 
they took longer flights, 
sometimes being seen 
ten miles away, on our 
Massabesic Lake, or on 
the Merrimack River. 
Then the first flock from 
the north would be claim¬ 
ed to have been seen by 
some gunner, who would bag one or two of the geese. Their 
freedom was then cut short by the wing clipping, and being well 
fed, like other domestic fowls, and given only enough water for 
drinking, they passed the winter contentedly in a shed, until the 
mysterious spring awakening filled them with feverish alertness 
for liberty, when they seemed hungering to find a bit of bare 
ground, and green grass, or other vegetable growth which they 
feed upon. 
When the spring fairly appeared they walked long distances, 
even with such short legs. They are better walkers than ducks, 
as their legs are placed farther forward. Some of these geese 
