In Scotland a Goose became so attached to its master, that it followed him about everywhere, just like a dog. One day this gentleman, after mixing with the crowd which was moving about the town he resided in, went into a barber's shop to get shaved. The faithful bird had followed him, and waited at the door until his master came out, in order to attend him in his subsequent movements, and then accompanied him back to his home. This intelligent creature could recognise its master's voice, although clothed in any disguise.
In Germany a Gander was in the habit of leading an old blind woman to church every Sunday. It guided her by the skirt of her dress, always conducting her to the seat in the church which she usually occupied. Afterwards it returned into the churchyard to browse upon the grass. When the service was over, it waited, just like a faithful dog, to take charge of its mistress. One day, when the minister called upon her and found her from home, he expressed his astonishment that the poor blind woman should venture out alone. "Ah, sir," replied her daughter, "we have no fears about her—the Gander is with her." Our blind people would make their fortune if they could replace their traditional dog by a guide of this novel kind.
The Bernicle, or Tree Geese, are so called from a foolish tradition of the Middle Ages of their being produced from the barnacle shell which attaches itself to ships' bottoms and timber floating in the sea. They differ from the true Geese in having the head smaller, the bill shorter and more conical, the breast-feathers much larger, and in the predominance of black in their plumage, bills, and feet. The plumage is full, very soft, and close. There are several species of Bernicla, which some recent writers have formed into a genus under that somewhat inappropriate name, the best-known species being the White-faced or Bernicle Goose, Anser leucopsis, Temminck, and the Black-faced or Brent Goose, Anser bernicla, of the same author.
The White-fronted Bernicle Goose.
English Synonyms.—Bernicle Goose: Selby, Montagu. White-faced Bernicle Goose: McGillivray. Common Bernicle: Jenyns. Clukis: Selby.
Latin Synonyms.—Anas bernicla: Linn. Anas erythropus: Latham. Anser leucopsis: Temminck, Jenyns. Anser bernicla: Selby. Bernicla leucopsis: Bonaparte, McGillivray.
French Synonym.—Oie bernache.
In its winter plumage this is a beautiful Goose, much smaller than those just described, but with a full body, long neck, and a small, oblong, and compressed head, with soft glossy plumage well blended on the head, neck, and breast. It occurs in considerable flocks in the Outer Hebrides, where it arrives in October, and remains till April. A large flock of these birds sitting lightly on the water, advancing with elevated necks, presents a very beautiful spectacle. Nor are they less handsome on the wing as they shoot through the air, now arranged in long undulating ranks, at one time extending in the direct line of their flight, at another flying obliquely, or at right angles to it, and again mingling altogether under some unexplained impulse. Their voice, as it proceeds from a large flock at some distance off, is clear and shrill, producing a pleasant harmony.
The Brent Goose, or Black-faced Bernicle, is much smaller than the Anser leucopsis, and easily distinguished from it by the face and head being entirely black. They seem to have visited our shores in great numbers in former years. In the years 1739—40 these birds were so abundant on the French coast that the people rose en masse to destroy them, and so numerous on the Kentish coast that many were taken in a starving condition. Mr. McGillivray met with large flocks of them in Cromarty Bay, Beauley Firth, and Montrose Basin. Mr. Selby observed them as constant visitors on the shallow waters between Holy Island and the mainland, and other parts of the coast.
