However, for eating the gander is not very good. His flesh is strong, tough, and unpleasant. The females and tender goslings are far more highly prized as food.
The gander is very energetic and courageous in defending his mate on the nest. W. T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoölogical Park, tells an anecdote that illustrates this. “Last spring,” he says, “two of our geese paired off and built a nest on the south bank of the Mammals’ Pond, in a very exposed situation. From that time until the young were hatched the gander never once wandered from his post. It was his rule never to go more than sixty feet from the nest, and whenever anyone approached it he immediately hastened to intercept the intruder, hissing and threatening with his wings in a most truculent manner. Had anyone persisted in disturbing the female he would willingly, even cheerfully, have shed his blood in her defense. His unswerving devotion to his duty attracted the admiring attention of thousands of visitors, and the proudest day of his life was when the first live gosling was led to the water, and launched with appropriate ceremonies.”
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 34, SERIAL No. 34
COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
MALLARD DUCK
COPYRIGHTED BY LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES, 1906
GAME BIRDS OF AMERICA
Mallard Duck (Anas boscas)
FIVE
