3o6 OUR RARER BIRDS 



far away from the hedges and dykes that surround them. 

 Geese are for the most part day-feeders, and live principally on 

 vegetables and grain, so that at the approach of evening the 

 flocks gather together from the fields and repair to the distant 

 coast to sleep on some low island or nmdbank. When the 

 moon shines brightly the flocks of sleeping Geese look 

 wonderfully pretty and interesting, but amongst the dark- 

 looking mass of birds there are always to be seen some 

 moving about or uttering their unmistakable cries. In 

 smaller numbers the White -fronted Goose (Anser albifrons), 

 readily distinguished by the numerous black markings on 

 the under-parts, uniform yellow bill, white line round the 

 forehead, and yellow legs and feet, visits us every Avinter, but 

 it is much more locally dispersed, and rarely congregates into 

 such vast companies as the birds we have already noticed. 



The last species, at wdiose habits we will briefly glance, is 

 to the naturalist by far the most interesting. This is the Gray- 

 Lag Goose (Anscr cinereus), pre-eminently the " Wild Goose " 

 of this country. It is characterised by its flesh-coloured legs, 

 feet, and beak, and few black markings on the under-parts. To 

 this bird we are indebted for the domestic Goose, so familiar 

 an object in every farmyard. From the Gray-Lag the various 

 strains and varieties of the farmyard Goose have sprung — 

 domestication having even changed the colour of its plumage 

 to pure white. The Gray-Lag Goose is a resident in our 

 islands. It is also much more of an inland bird, and used 

 formerly to breed in abundance in the marshes of the low- 

 lying counties, until drainage brought these districts under the 

 plough. In winter it frequents the coast in large numbers, 

 but returns to its marshy moorland haunts in early spring, 

 for the purpose of rearing its young. Flocks of these birds 

 may often be seen on their journeys to and fro, flying at an 

 enormous height in the shape of the letter V. 



When observino- bird-life amonsfst the wild Hebrides I often 



