_Miscellaneous Anecdotes._--"An old goose," says an English writer,
"that had been for a fortnight sitting in a farmer's kitchen, was
perceived on a sudden to be taken violently ill. She soon after left
her nest, and repaired to an outhouse, where there was a young goose,
which she brought into the kitchen. The young one immediately scrabbled
into the old one's nest, sat, hatched, and afterwards brought up, the
young goslings as her own. The old goose, as soon as the young one had
taken her place, sat down by the side of the nest, and shortly
afterwards died. As the young goose had never been in the habit of
entering the kitchen before, it is supposed that she had in some way
received information of the wants of the sick goose, which she
accordingly administered to in the best way she could."
An English gentleman had some years ago a Canadian goose, which
attached itself to a house dog. Whenever he barked, she cackled, ran at
the person the dog barked at, and bit his heels. She would not go to
roost at night with the other geese, but remained near the kennel,
which, however, she never entered, except in rainy weather. When the
dog went to the village, the goose always accompanied him, contriving
to keep pace with him by the assistance of her wings; and in this way
she followed him all over the parish. This extraordinary affection is
supposed to have originated in the dog having rescued her from a foe in
the very moment of distress.
Captain L., of New Jersey, while lying at anchor with his schooner off
Poole's Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, observed a wild goose, which had
been wounded, attempt to fly from the top of a hill to the water; but
being unable to reach its place of destination, it alighted about
midway down the hill, where some cattle were grazing; one of which,
seeing the stranger, walked up, as is commonly the case, to smell it.
The goose, not fancying this kind of introduction, seized the ox by the
nose with so much firmness as to set the creature bellowing; and he
actually ran off a considerable distance before he could disengage the
goose from its hold.