SCREAMERS, DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 7i 



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AUSTRALIAN PYGMY 



The pygmy geese are expert dti'ers 



iMUhrJ-tn-Sea 



GOOSE 



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The Geese include birds of somewhat con- 

 spicuous coloration, besides a considerable number 

 of more subdued aspect. The sexes are distin- 

 guished b)' diftcrent names, the female being 

 known as the Goose, the male as the Gander, 

 whilst the v'oung is the Gosling. As we have 

 already mentioned, there is no hard-and-fast line 

 to be drawn between the three sections of this 

 group. The Ducks are connected b_\- the Shel- 

 drakes with the Geese, through the Spur-winged 

 Goose, the Eg\-ptian and Orinoco Geese, and 

 certain other species which cannot be alluded to 

 on this occasion. 



The Si'LM<-\viNGED Geese, of which there are 

 two species, are African birds, and deri\'e their 

 name from the long spur seated on the wing. 



A still more remarkable form is the Hali'- 

 WEBBED Goose, so called from the fact that its 

 feet are only partially webbed. It has a black- 

 and-white plumage, a hooked beak, and a large 

 wart}' prominence on the front of the head. It spends most of its time perched on the branches 

 of the Australian tea-trees, and rarely enters the water. The windpipe is peculiar, being coiled 

 in several folds between the skin and the breast-muscles. 



From tliese peculiar forms we pass to the true geese. The largest li\ing species is the 

 Chinese or Guixe.\-G<)Ose of Eastern Siberia, regarded as the stock from which the domesticated 

 geese of Eastern countries have been deri\-ed. 



European domesticated geese ha\-e been deri\'ed from the Grev or Grev-L.m; Glxise, a 

 species at one time exceedingly common in England, breeding in considerable numbers in 

 the fen districts, where the young were frequentl}- taken and reared with the large flock of 

 domesticated geese commonly kept at that time for the sake of their feathers. The grey-lag 

 goose, however, has long ceased to breed in England, though a few still nest in Scotland. 



The most important breeds derived from 

 the grey-lag are the T(_)ULOUSE and Emden. 

 Other British species are the Be.\N-GOOSE, 

 PiN'K-FOOTEr) and Wihte-fronted Geese, 

 and the "Bl.vcr" Brext and B.\RNACLE- 

 ( ;eese, in all of which the se.xes are precisely 

 similar in coloration and subdued in tone. 



In the New World some very beautiful 

 white geese are found, which are still more 

 interesting in that the females have a difterent 

 coloration. These are the KELP- and Uplaxd- 

 GEESE of Patagonia and the Falklands. The 

 female of the kelp-goose is brownish black 

 above and black barred with white below, 

 whilst the female of the upland-goose is 

 rufous and black in colour. The latter may 

 be seen in London parks. 

 , , Lastly, we have a few species known from 



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their small size as PVGMY GEESE of Australia, 

 BLACK-NECKED SWAN India, and Africa. Perhaps the best known 



The fleshy knob at the base of the hill ;s 0/ a bright red colour IS the Indian SpecicS, Called the COTTON-TEAL. 



