t, and are used for making beds and pillows. Not a great while ago
pens were made of the quills that come out of the wings of the goose,
and everybody who wrote used them.

6. Geese make their nests on the ground, where the old mother goose
lays about a dozen eggs before she begins to sit. These eggs are twice
the size of hens' eggs.

7. The goslings are covered with a thick coat of down, and are able to
run on the land or swim in the water when they first come out of the
shell.

8. The goose and the gander together take good care of their goslings.
When anything comes near, they stretch out their necks and give a loud
hiss.

9. Should a strange dog venture too near, they will take hold of him
with their bills and beat him with their wings until he is glad to get
away.

[Illustration]

LESSON VIII.

_HOW GEESE BEHAVE._

[Illustration]

1. The feathers of the goose are of great value. They are plucked out
three or four times a year, at times when the weather is warm and
fair.

2. The goose likes cold water. Great flocks of wild geese live in the
swamps and lakes in the cold northern regions, and we can see them
flying overhead in the spring and fall.

3. A miller once had a flock of geese, and he lost them all except one
old goose, that for a long time swam round alone on the mill-pond.

4. Now, the miller's wife placed a number of duck's eggs under a hen,
and, as soon as they were hatched, the ducklings ran to the water.

5. The old goose, seeing the fright and flurry of the hen, sailed up
with a noisy gabble, and took the ducklings in charge, and swam about
with them.

6. When they were tired, she led them to the shore and gave them back
to the care of the hen, who, to her great joy, found that they were
all safe and sound.

7. The next day down came the ducklings to the pond, with the hen
fussing and fretting as before. The goose was waiting near the shore.

8. When the ducklings had taken to the water, the hen, to get near
them, flew upon the back of the goose, and the two sailed up and down
the pond after the ducklings.

9. So, day after day, away sailed the ducklings, and close behind them
came the mother hen, now quite at her ease on the back of the friendly
goose, watching her gay little brood.

10. A lady tells this story of a gander: "My grandfather was fond of
pets, and he had once a droll one, named Swanny. This was a gander he
had raised near the house, because he had been l