A flock of geese flying over a town.

Geese

A flock of geese flying over a town.

"Goose is the name of a well-known family of natatorial birds. The domestic goose is believed to have descended form the greylag goose. It is valued for the table and on account of its quills and fine soft feather. The body is large and heavy, the neck long, the head small, and the bill conical, the wings long and powerful, the feet somewhat long, with small toes. In summer the wild goose inhabits the polar regions, migrating south in flocks on the approach of winter. The nest which is of coarse grass, is generally situated in marshy places."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Wild Goose

"Goose is the name of a well-known family of natatorial birds. The domestic goose is believed to have…

A lemming is a small, yellowish-brown rodent, closely related to the vole, and belonging to the genus Myodes. The Norwegian lemming (M. lemmus) is about five inches in length, with the tail extremely short. It excavates shallow burrows in the soil of the mountain meadows in which it lives, and in winter tunnels beneath the snow for its food, which is wholly vegetable, consisting of roots, shoots, catkins, moss, and lichens. Special interest attaches to this rodent from the fact that at irregular intervals, varying from five to twenty years, it suddenly appears in vast numbers in Northern Europe; great bodies, said to number millions of individuals, migrate from place to place in search of food, leaving behind them a track of desolation as they eat their way through fields of corn and grass. They show a remarkable persistency both in the act of migration and in the general direction of the movement, and swim without hesitation any bodies of water which may block their path. As, from the contour of the Scandinavian peninsula, they inevitably come eventually to the sea, those which have not perished from overcrowding, from disease, or from the attacks of their enemies, die in attempting to swim across it. The lemming of Northern Europe is known is replaced in North America by the allied M. obensis and the banded lemming (Cuniculus torquatus); the latter is circumpolar, and turns white in winter. Other allies, called lemming-mice, inhabit Northwestern Canada, and have somewhat similar habits, but rarely, if ever, migrate from their habitat.

Lemming

A lemming is a small, yellowish-brown rodent, closely related to the vole, and belonging to the genus…

Women and children with oxen, probably leaving the town in the background. Several figures look back at town. Others are crying. Small boy is carrying a stick with a bag over his shoulder. The wagon is loaded with household possessions including a spinning wheel, and chair

People with Oxen

Women and children with oxen, probably leaving the town in the background. Several figures look back…