172 
THE CANADA GOOSE. 
In a good day, — for they fly in very uncertain and 
unequal numbers, — a single Indian will kill two hundred. 
Notwithstanding every species of Goose has a different call, 
yet the Indians are admirable in their imitations of every 
one. The autumnal flight lasts from the middle of August 
to the middle of October; those which are taken in this 
season, when the frosts begin, are preserved in their fea- 
thers, and left to be frozen for the fresh provisions of the 
winter stock. The feathers constitute an article of com- 
merce, and are sent to England. 
The vernal flight of the Geese lasts from the middle of 
April until the middle of May. Their first appearance coin- 
cides with the thawing of the swamps, when they are very 
lean. Their arrival from the south is impatiently attended; 
it is the harbinger of the spring, and the month named by 
the Indians the Goose moon. They appear usually at their 
settlements about St. George’s day, 0. S., and fly north- 
ward, to nestle in security. They prefer islands to the 
continent, as further from the haunts of man. 
After such prodigious havoc as thus appears to be made 
among these birds, and their running the gauntlet, if I may 
so speak, for many hundreds of miles through such destruc- 
tive fires, no wonder they should have become more scarce, 
as well as shy, by the time they reach the shores of the 
United States. 
Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early 
in October, and their first numerous appearance is the sure 
