"As stupid as a Goose!"
Yes, I know that is the way our family is usually spoken of. But then
I'm not a tame Goose, you know. We wild fellows think we know a little
more than the one which waddles about the duck-pond in your back yard.
He sticks to one old place all the time. Waddles and talks and looks the
same year after year. We migratory birds, on the other hand, fly from
place to place. Our summers are passed here, our winters there; so that
we pick up a thing or two the common Goose never dreams of.
"The laughing Goose!"
Yes, some people call me that. I don't know why, unless my _Honk, honk,
honk!_ sounds like a laugh. Perhaps, though, it is because the look
about my mouth is so pleasant.
Did you ever see a flock of us in motion, in October or November, going
to our winter home?
Ah, that is a sight! When the time comes for us to start, we form
ourselves into a figure like this >. a big gander taking the lead where
the dot is. Such a _honk, honk, honking_ you never heard. People who
have heard us, and seen us, say it sounds like a great army overhead.
Where do we live in summer, and what do we eat?
You will find us throughout the whole of North America, but in greater
numbers on the Pacific coast. The fresh-water lakes are our favorite
resorts. We visit the wheat fields and corn fields, nibbling the young,
tender blades and feeding on the scattered grain. The farmers don't like
it a bit, but we don't care. That is the reason our flesh tastes so
sweet.
And tough!
My, how you talk! It is only we old fellows that are tough, we fellows
over a year old. But of course a great many people don't know that, or
don't care.
Why, I once heard of a gander that had waddled around a barnyard for
five long years. Thanksgiving Day arrived, and they roasted him for
dinner.
Think of eating an old, _old_ friend like that!
Where do we build our nests?
Away up north, in Alaska, and on the islands of the Arctic Sea. We make
them of hay, feathers, and down, building them in hollow places on the
ground.
How many eggs?
Six. I am very good to my mate, and an affectionate father.
[Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences.
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.
Copyrighted by
Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.]