Are feathers ever taken from live geese for beds?
Compare the feathers of land-fowls and water-fowls.
Probably one or more of our Junior Naturalists will have a goose for his Thanksgiving dinner. If so, I wish that the wing feathers might be brought to school. See whether you can find out why the wing feathers of a goose were preferred for making quill pens. Make a pen if you can and write a letter to Uncle John with it. The five outer wing feathers are most useful for writing, and of these the second and third are best. Why? Do you think that the Declaration of Independence was signed with a quill pen? Do goose quills make good holders for artists' brushes?
Fig. 334. A happy family.
What kind of food do geese like best?
Is the tongue of a goose similar to that of a turkey or chicken?
Is the old gander as cross as the turkey gobbler?
Have you ever seen a flock of wild geese flying northward or southward? Which way are they going in the fall? Observe that nearly always they keep their V-shaped ranks unbroken. There is, of course, a leader whose call the flock follows. Whether the leader is some chosen member of the number or whether he takes his position by chance I do not know. What time of day do the wild geese fly? Do you like to hear them honking as they go on their way? I wish you would find out whether our farmyard geese are only these common wild geese tamed.