VII.— BRITISH WILD GEESE. 



According to the list of British birds, compiled by a Committee of 

 the British Ornithologists' Union, and published in 1883. thirteen 

 different species of Geese have been recorded from the United 

 Kingdom, but of these, the two African Geese, the Spur-winged and 

 the Egyptian Goose, are regarded as " escapes." The Indian Bar- 

 headed Goose, and the Chinese Goose have both been recorded, 

 but there is little doubt that our Islands are far out of the line of 

 their natural migration, and that they too have escaped from 

 confinement. Finally, the Canadian Goose is frequently shot ; it is 

 an abundant North American species, and quantities are kept in 

 this country, in a state of semi-confinement, notably at Kimberley, 

 in Norfolk. There is little likelihood of this North American bird 

 finding its way unaided to Great Britain, and it would be quite 

 impossible to verify the occurrence of a really wild bird, even if it 

 occurred, among the number of birds annually killed, which are 

 undoubtedly " escapes." 



These five Geese are all put in square brackets by the Ibis 

 Committee, indicating that they do not consider any of them properly 

 authenticated British birds, which have occurred in a wild state. 



This reduces the list of British Geese from thirteen to eight. 

 The Gre^'-lag, Bean, Pink-footed, White-fronted, Brent, Barnacle, 

 Red-breasted, and Snow-Goose. The last two have undoubtedly 

 occurred in Great Britain in a genuinely wild state, but they are 

 extremely rare ; perhaps there are five or six specimens of the former, 

 whose history is above reproach, and ten or a dozen of the latter. 

 Concerning these two species, I have no personal knowledge what- 

 ever. I have never seen the birds outside Museums and Zoological 

 Gardens, and can give no information about them, except what is 

 to be found in our leading text-books, and is accessible to everyone. 

 I do not propose to deal with them at all, and this reduces my number 

 to six species, all of which visit this country in large quantities 

 between October and March, while one still remains to breed with 

 us, though in ever-decreasing numbers. These are the Common 

 Wild Geese of Great Britain. I have had a fairly wide personal 

 acquaintance with all of them, and it is to these six species, alone, 

 that I propose to direct my observations now. 



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