of water so beautifully adapted for the domestication and introduction
of every kind of water fowl which will bear the
climate of Great Britain. Of very large extent, it is embossed
in beautiful shrubbery, perfectly recluse, and, even in
the nearly constant observance of a resident family, several
exotic species seem to look on it as their own. The Canada,
and Egyptian Geese both had young when I visited it, and
the lovely Anas (Dendronessa) sponsa* seemed as healthy
as if in her native waters.''1
Canada Geese produced and reared their young in the
gardens of the Zoological Society in 1885, and a pair belonging
to the Ornithological Society have been productive in St.
James’s Park, during the present season, 1841. The egg is
of a dull white colour, measuring three inches four lines in
length, and two inches four lines in breadth. The young
were observed to grow very rapidly. Willughby, whose
Ornithology was published in 1678, says of the Canada Goose,
“ the name shows the place whence it comes. We saw and
described both this and the Spur-winged Goose among the
King’s wild-fowl in St. James’s Park.”
The Canada Goose goes to very high northern latitudes in
summer. Captain Phipps mentions having seen Wild Geese
feeding at the water’s edgex on the dreary coast of Spitzbergen,
in latitude 80° %T; but these might be Bean Geese, which
are known to go there. Fabricius suspects that they are found
during summer in Greenland. They inhabit the northern
parts of North America. Immense flocks appear annually in
the spring in Hudson’s Bay, and pass far to the north to
breed, and return southward in autumn. Pennant, in his
Arctic Zoology, says, numbers also breed about Hudson’s
Bay, laying six or seven eggs each; the young are easily
made tame. They proceed in their southern migration as far
as South Carolina, where they winter in the rice grounds.
* The Summer Duck, or Wood Duck of America.
Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna Boreali-Americana, says, 44 the
arrival of this well known bird in the fur-countries is anxiously
looked for, and hailed with great joy by the natives of the
woody and swampy districts, who depend principally upon it
for subsistence during the summer. I t makes its first appearance
in flocks of twenty or thirty, which are readily decoyed
withiq gun-shot by the hunters, who set up stuffed skins, and
imitate its call. Two or three, or more, are so frequently
killed, at a shot, that the usual price of a Goose is a single
charge of ammunition. One Goose, which, when fat, weighs
about nine pounds, is the daily ration for one of the Company’s
servants during the season, and is reckoned equivalent
to two Snow Geese,* or three ducks, or eight pounds of buffalo
and moose meat, or two pounds of pemmican, or a pint
of maize and four ounces of suet. \ About three weeks after
their first appearance, the Canada Geese disperse in pairs
throughout the country, 'between the 50th and 67th parallels,
to breed, retiring at the same time from the shores of Hud-
son’s Bay. They are seldom or never seen on the coasts of
( the Arctic Sea. In July, after the young birds are hatched,
the parents moult, and vast numbers are killed in the rivers
and small lakes, when they afe unable to fly. When chased
by a canoe and obliged to dive frequently, they soon become
fatigued and make for the shore, with the intention of hiding
tfeemSelyes, but as they; are not fleet, they fall an easy prey
to their pursuers. In the autumn they again assemble in
flocks on the shores of Hudson’s Bay for three weeks or a
month previous to their departure southwards. I t has been
observed, that in their migrations, the Geese annually resort
to certain passes and resting places, some of which are frequented
both in the spring, and autumn, and others only in
* There is am old saying, that a Goose is too much for one, and not enough
for two : Hearne, in his Journal, says, “ the flesh of the Snow Goose is delicate,
but the bird is so small that I ate twoone night fo r supper.”