i68 Wild Geese 



Regents Park. This, however, does not lielp. The colouring of 

 the bill depends on natural surroundings, natural food, and a 

 maximum of health, and the fog-begrimed bill of the White-fronted 

 Goose of Regents Park, bears no resemblance to the delicate 

 vellum-white bill with its yellow bands seen in the adult wild bird. 

 Even in the wild state, these colours vary to some extent, presumably 

 with the health of the indi\-idual, quite irrespective of the very 

 marked changes which depend on age. 



Geese in General. 



The sexes are alike (speaking, of course, of the Old World 

 Geese) and are distinguishable only by a difference in size. They 

 have no coloured speculum on the wing, and are without the bony 

 labyrinth at the base of the trachea in Ducks. 



They fly with great power, and without producing that rapid 

 whistling sound characteristic of the Ducks, or the slow, rhythmical 

 swish of the Swan. Their flight is practically silent. They walk or 

 run on the ground with ease and grace, and swim with rapidity on 

 the water. They never dive (immerse the whole body), unless 

 wounded, and even then cannot keep below the surface for any 

 considerable time, as a Duck would do in similar circumstances. 

 They can spring from the ground with the greatest facility, but are 

 somewhat slower in rising from the surface of water. 



The annual moult is the most important and critical event in 

 their lives. Possibly their breeding-places in the far North are 

 determined by the necessity of their choosing a very sparsely 

 inhabited country to sojourn in during the period when they and their 

 young are helpless. They moult but once a year, and lose all their 

 flight feathers at the same time ; they are, in consequence, incapable 

 of flying, and are then often killed in large quantities at their Arctic 

 breeding-stations. Seebohm (" Siberia in Europe ") records how 

 he fell in with a large flock of Bean Geese in the valley of the Petchora 

 on July 27th. It was composed of adults with their three-quarter 

 grown goslings, all entirely incapable of flight, marching, as he 

 describes it, like a regiment of soldiers, into the interior of the Tundra. 

 Trevor Battye (" Ice-bound on Kolguev ") gives an account of a 

 Samoyed goose-drive on Kolguev, on July i8th ; the total for the 

 day's butchery, reaching three thousand three hundred Brents, 

 thirteen Bean, and twelve White-front, all flightless birds, that were 

 cleverly shepherded by the natives into a netted enclosure, and 

 ruthlessly knocked on the head. It is only fair to add that this 

 annual slaughter is a matter of immense importance to the Samoyedi. 

 as the Geese then killed furnish their principal source of food during 

 the winter. 



Geese pair for life ; the Gander, equally with the Goose, assists 

 with the family cares. As regards the moult, the Gander is somewhat 



