goslings bred in the inland districts, and procured in September, in my opinion, far surpass the renowned Canvas-back Duck"-the most famous tit-bit that America produces. He adds,-" Every portion of it is useful to Man; for besides the value of the flesh as an article of food, the feathers, the quills, and the fat, are held in request. The eggs also afford very good eating." Instead of this slovenly mode of breeding and feeding, which no one would think of adopting with the most ordinary Goose that ever grazed upon a common, I would, not unadvisedly, recommend every flock of Canada Geese to be in November immediately reduced to two, (in order to guard against accident to one), or, at the most, three pairs, in the very largest park, and greatest extent of water, possessed by our nobility. Such pairs should be retained, as differ as much, in age, as may be consistent with their breeding powers; and also, if possible, those should be selected which have been observed to entertain a mutual dislike, in order that they may fix their nests at a distance from each other. They should previously have become attached to their keeper, though not to their co-mates, that they may suffer him to approach and feed them and their goslings liberally, and so bring them into thoroughly good condition by killing time. The stock-birds ought to be well supplied with corn during winter, when the grass grows little or not at all, to promote early laying; but they usually have just half-a-dozen kernels of barley thrown down to them now and then. No one can blame them, if they occasionally stray out of bounds in search of food; but they are then accused of restlessness, shyness, and so on. They have been literally starved out. It is no migratory impulse that sets them on the move, but over-crowding and underfeeding; in proof of which, they will generally return of their own accord. I am speaking of birds that have been bred in captivity for several generations. Give them room and food enough, and they will stay contentedly at home. Curtail their supplies, and they become like "darkness" in Spofforth's well-known glee; "flies away is ever and again the burden of their song. The Canada Goose is a very large bird, and cannot be expected to live and get fat upon air. If a farmer's wife were to treat her Turkeys as the Canada Goslings are usually served, they would at Christmas be just as tough, stringy, and uneatable, if indeed they survived the pinching regimen so long. Many people in the country make the same difference in their treatment of their ornamental fowls and their ordinary stock, that they do between their garden and their farm. The garden goes without a spadeful of manure from one end of a seven years' lease to another; the turnip-field is glutted with guano and all sorts of good things. And so, exotic birds, procured at considerable expense, or received as highly valued presents from friends, are turned out into a grassy wilderness, to shift for themselves as best they may, while the Turkeys and Goslings are taken as much care of as their master's children. To a late inquiry after the fate of a pair sent to a distance, I got for answer, "One flew away and the other the Swan killed." The growing Canada Geese must sensibly miss the abundance of their native breeding-places, when confined to these short commons; and it is not just in us, after such neglect and penuriousness on our part, to complain that they neither fat well nor reproduce at an early age. From each pair of Geese, properly looked after, between six and nine goslings may fairly be calculated upon; which; killed in the autumn, when really plump, would be very acceptable at home, or as presents to unprejudiced persons. Managed thus, they would be little, or, according to Audubon, not at all inferior to a fatted Cygnet. And their picturesque effect, as accessaries in landscape gardening, would surely be greater in distinct uniformly-tinted groups, moving here and there across the scene with a decided object, namely, the conducting of their young, than as a motley crowd of diverselycoloured, variously-shaped creatures, huddled together in unmeaning confusion. The woodland-park should be stocked on different principles to the aviary and the menagerie. Thus it is as a spot of pure white that the Swan gives such a sparkling brilliancy to the picture; and the point of deepest shade (an adjunct of no less importance to the painter) may be made more intense and effective by the judicious employment of the Canada Goose. When a pair are received from a distance, the best way of settling them in their new abode is to confine them with hurdles and netting, as near as possible to the spot where it is wished they should eventually make their nest. Those from the hands of dealers will generally be cowed or timidly tame; but young birds, fresh taken from their parents, or adult ones that have been removed from their old home to a new one, will sulk and be shy. For the first few hours they need have nothing to eat, only plenty of water to drink. Their keeper should show himself to them, and speak to them kindly, as often as his leisure will permit; when he guesses that they begin to feel the cravings of hunger, a small handful of corn may be thrown down to them, a cabbage or two, and half-a-dozen earth-worms. It is, of course, supposed that they have been located on the grass. It is likely that at first they will not eat in the presence of a stranger; they may be left for an hour or so, when, if they have availed themselves of his absence, he may give them a little more from time to time. Proceeding thus by kindness, familiarity, and very frequent visits, he will soon secure their confidence, and be able to form his own judgment when they may be suffered to range at large. The young are active, self-helping little things. Their down is of a dirty grey, a colour very difficult to describe, with darker patches here and there, like the young of the China Goose. Their bill, eyes, and legs are black. They give no trouble in rearing. The old ones lead them to the places where suitable food is to be obtained. The keeper, by a liberal supply of corn, can bring them forward for the table better than by shutting them up to fat; and before Christmas the parents should be again alone in their domain. They will continue to increase in size and beauty for some years, and should have been pinioned at the first joint of the wing (reckoning from the tip) in the manner described for the Swan: the young that are to be eaten had better remain unmutilated. I believe that old birds killed in the autumn after they have recovered from moulting, and before they have begun to think about the breeding-time, would make excellent meat if cut into small portions, stewed slowly five or six hours with savoury condiments, and made into pies the next day. ""Tis the soup that makes the soldier," say the French. By roasting or broiling similar "joints" we lose the large quantity of nutriment contained in the bones and cartilages, besides having to swallow tough what we might easily make tender. The young (as well as the old) are in America salted and boiled; they would probably please most palates better if cooked and served Swan-fashion. Audubon's description of their manners is most vivid, and, as far as I have observed, quite accurate, and not at all exaggerated. The young male has a frequent disposition to neglect his own mate, and give himself up to unlicensed companionship. We had one that deserted his partner, to her evident grief, and made most furious love to one of a flock of Tame Geese, separating her from the rest, not permitting any other water-bird to swim near her, stretching out his neck stiffly on a level with the water, opening his red-lined throat to its utmost extent, hissing, grunting, sighing, trumpeting, winking his bright black eyes, tossing his head madly, and all kinds of folly. We did not choose to permit such conduct; but as often as we killed and roasted the object of his affections, he immediately selected another leman, invariably the ugliest of the surviving females. One short, squat, roughfeathered, ill-marked Goose, with a thick bill and a great |