224 GOOSE.

an anecdote is given of the partiality of a Canada goose
for a yard dog. The goose could only be separated by
foree from her canine friend, and after his death fell a
sacrifice, by endeavouring to’ possess that seat in the
kennel where she had so long been fostered with the
kindest friendship by his predecessor.

A similar attachment we recollect of the China goose,
the male of which bad been killed by a young pointer.
Ponto was most severely punished for this misdemeanor,
and had the dead bird tied to his neck. The solitary
goose became extremely distressed for the loss of her
partner and only companion; and probably having been
attracted to the dog’s kennel by the sight of her dead
mate, she determined to persecute Ponto by her constant
attendance and continual vociferations; after a little time,
however, a strict amity and friendship subsisted between
the incongruous animals: they fed out of the same
trough, lived under the same roof, and in the same
straw-bed kept each other warm; and when the dog was
taken to the field, the inharmonious lamentations of the
goose for the absence of her friend were incessant.”

The common goose, from which our domestic breed
is descended, must have been dumesticated many centuries;
and it is rather surprising that many other species of
the larger birds, especially of the aquatic kinds, have
not been brought under the dominion of man.