informed that they were at first so easy of access that i then concluded they must have taken flight from some gentleman s pond the next year again during the tremendous from the west a flock of about eighty appeared near the same place and two more were killed and sent me by the same man i have therefore no doubt of their instead of to this i suppose these birds were tiu of late years very scarce as mr has no specimen of them the laughing have the wild goose only been known to the of our islands for some years � since the frost of when a flock of eighty of them alighted on a field near the village of the cry of the goose is frequently heard when we cannot catch the least sight of the flock overhead it seems to pass from one to another like the of the sheep or the bay of the hound in pursuit it is seldom heard when they alight the bird is too known for any of its or internal notwithstanding the royal authority in favour of the variety of this fowl our gives preference over all the race to the species called by the natives the this bird the coast of ireland from head to bay in vast quantities the country people cook it by all conceivable and inconceivable and it is eaten at breakfast at the houses of the gentry done into a after too much wine which from head to bay and thence to again is a consequence of course it is really a most delicious relish this may seem a quaint style of doing a natural history notice but allowance must be made for the subject who drives fat oxen c the benevolent reader will apply of goose it is fit to say however that in the affair of the wild goose is no doubt a non belonging neither to the flesh fish or good red the most amusing t the wild goose natural historian in the world thus speaks of his obligations to this bird � a young goose is generally reckoned very good eating yet the feathers of this bird still increase its value i feel my obligations to this animal every word i write for however a man s head may be his pen is enough upon eveiy occasion it is happy indeed for poor authors that it requires no great effort to put it in motion but the feathers of this bird are still as valuable in another capacity as they make the and the warmest beds to sleep on of goose feathers most of our beds in europe are composed or supposed to be by in the on the and in all asia the use of them is unknown how it happens that the had not the use of feather beds is surprising tells us indeed that they made of feathers to lay their heads on and this serves as a proof that they turned feathers to no other uses as good feathers are a very valuable great numbers of are kept tame in the of which are plucked once or twice a year the feathers of are most in esteem those of ireland are reckoned the worst s bay also very fine feathers supposed to be of the same kind the down of the swan is brought from the wild goose always the same marks these marks are seldom found in the tame but both invariably retain a white ring round their tail which shows they are both descended from the natural history of the wild duck same original describes the flight of the wild goose its wonderful and harmony of accord and remarks that unlike the and the which journey in the obscurity of the night the are seen pursuing their route in broad day the dock the wild duck among wild ducks the male is called the and the young birds in size it is not equal to the tame duck in it but little from it its bill is yellow its neck is adorned with the brightest grass green feathers ending in a white ring the most apparent distinction between the wild and tame species is however in the colour of the legs � the wild duck the wild duck s legs are black those of the tame one yellow those ducks which feed much in the and have a broad bill bending upwards a large hind toe and a long tail those which feed in have bills and and a tail pointed a few of the wild duck tribe known to the as natives of our own the f european may be thus � first the the bird or with the head and neck of a bright bay the with a bill of lead colour and the back feathers marked with narrow black and white lines and well known by its whistling sound the black duck or or black the duck or the duck the wiu duck colonel says of this duck the only three i ever heard of on the coast appeared in a late severe winter i stopped them all though i got but one as the other two beat me in a sea the duck the golden eye the grey duck or the duck or duck swallow the duck winter duck sea or the duck the or broad duck the duck the velvet duck or double besides other varieties as these live much in the same manner as the the duck domestic ducks we shall only briefly touch upon them they resort together in flocks during the winter and fly in pairs during the summer the velvet ducks are seen more in summer than in winter ducks nests are constructed easily among heath and rushes of their favourite not fer from the water where they will lay twelve or fourteen eggs before they sit the hen remains on them about thirty days when 