176 Grey-lag Goose 



Grev-Lag {Anser cinereus, Meyer). 



Of the three Geese found in the winter in these outer islands 

 the Grey-lag is by far tlie most interesting to British naturalists. 

 It is the one Goose which breeds, or, presumably, ever has bred in 

 the United Kingdom. They formerly nested in numbers in the 

 Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire fens, and probably in Norfolk, the 

 last nest being taken in Lincolnshire in the early part of the last 

 century. Its present breeding-grounds are confined to a few pairs in 

 some of the north and north-western counties of Scotland, and to 

 some of the outer Hebrides. 



The name " Grey-lag " has been a subject of much discussion 

 among ornithologists and etymologists. Yarrell derived " lag " 

 from lacus, Italian lago. Professor Skeat, considers that the adjective 

 " lag " means late, last or slow (compare laggard, lag-last, lag-man, 

 lag-teeth). According to this authority, the Grey-lag Goose is the 

 Grey Goose which in former days lagged behind the others to breed 

 in our fens, when its congeners had betaken themselves to more 

 northern quarters. This is the commonly accepted derivation at 

 the present time. Mr. J. E. Harting, however, suggests that " lag " 

 is derived from leaf^ or lea, and means Field-Goose, as distinctive 

 from the " rut," or root-eating species, such as the Brent. 



It is from this Goose that our domesticated stock has been 

 derived, as may well be seen from the general similarity of the 

 plumage of the wild bird, and of the darker forms among droves 

 of tame Geese ; from its cry, which is to my ear absolutely indis- 

 tinguishable from the cackle of the farm-yard Goose. So exact is 

 this resemblance to me, at any rate, that I was constantly confused, 

 when flighting in the dusk near any of the farms, between the voices 

 of the tame and the wild birds, mistaking the one for the other. 

 And equally by day, when lunching in one of the farm-byres, a 

 cackle might reach me ; on investigation, it sometimes turned out 

 to be a flock of Wild Geese, settling close by, sometimes merely an 

 animated discussion proceeding from the domesticated birds. 



I do not propose to occupy much time in this paper in describing 

 the plumage of these Geese, but I feel compelled to enter rather 

 carefully into the colouring of the soft parts of both species of Grey 

 Geese, since I think almost all plates and most descriptions are quite 

 inaccurate on these points. 



The soft parts which require special notice are : — 

 I. The bill, including, of course, the nail. 

 . 2. Legs, toes, inter-digital membranes and toe-nails. 

 3. The eyelids, the narrow circle of naked skin bordering 

 the eyes. This is frequently coloured and sometimes 

 markedly swollen. 



