i8o Grey-lag Goose 



fronts, which, hke the Brent, breed in high, northern latitudes, 

 no great harm is done. It is the legal slaughtering of the Grey-lag 

 Goose in March and April that seems to me so monstrous. 



Over a hundred Geese were shot last season in March and April 

 by the proprietor and his keepers in S. Uist, so I was informed. At 

 least a third, and probably half, of these were Grey-lags : " You 

 can always tell the paired breeding birds," the keeper said ; "it 

 is only the young, non-breeding ones we shoot." That may be true 

 to a large extent. Probably the majority of the mated birds do 

 escape, as they have taken to the hills by the middle of March ; 

 but the immature birds that are shot are just those that should furnish 

 the best breeding-stock for the following year. 



This ill-considered order of the County-council of Inverness 

 should go far to exterminate the Grey-lag in S. Uist, and when that 

 is accomplished, its final disappearance in Great Britain as a breeding 

 species should not take long. 



The Breeding Habits of the Grey-Tag. 



Early in March the Grey Geese begin to pair, and by the middle 

 of that month leave the low moor and betake themselves to the 

 hills. Those that remain after that date are mostly immature birds 

 that will not breed that season. These, in their turn, will take to 

 the hills about June 15th, in order to carry on the annual operation 

 of moulting in safe seclusion. From the middle of June to the early 

 days of August, when the moult is completed, the low ground is 

 N-ntirely devoid of Geese of any kind. 



The hills to which the Geese betake themselves are of varying 

 height, covered with heather, sometimes short and stunted, often, 

 especially by the burn-sides, long and rank. There are, further, 

 a number of fresh-water lochs scattered about among the hills ; 

 on many of these lochs are dotted one or more islands. Until the 

 appearance of the angler, in July and August, this country- remains 

 almost entirely undisturbed. A few sheep, an occasional shepherd 

 or game-keeper are the only objects which meet the eye of the 

 brooding Goose. Where it is possible, the Goose very much prefers 

 nesting on an island in a loch, so that they are completely isolated ; 

 but as they do not like building \-ery close together, and as there 

 are not enough islands to go round, a considerable number put up 

 with the moor. 



The nest is sometimes made in a tussock of grass, sometimes in 

 short heather, and sometimes in long rank stuff, which entirely 

 conceals the sitting bird. But it is always difficult to find, whether 

 the Goose is actually on the nest, where she sits very close, or whether 

 she is off, and the eggs covered with down. 



The nest itself is a very elementary structure. In scraping out 

 a hollow a few heather roots are exposed, a few more twigs are added 



