GBEY LAG GOOSE 227 



Grey Lag Goose. 

 Anser cinereus. 



Fig. 75. — Grey Lag Goose. ^ natural size. 



Head, neck, and upper parts grejdsh brown ; lower breast and 

 abdomen dull white with a few black spots ; bluish grey rump and 

 wing-coverts ; biU flesh-coloured, with a white nail at the tip ; legs 

 and feet flesh-coloured. Length, thirty-five inches. 



Eight species of geese are counted among British birds ; two of 

 these — the snow-goose {Chen alhatus) and the red-breasted goose 

 {Bernicla ruficollis) — may be dismissed at once as rare stragglers 

 to the British Islands. .The other six are all winter visitors to 

 our coasts, and are divisible into two natural groups — the grey 

 geese (counting four species), all large birds, brownish grey in colour, 

 and feeders on land ; and the black, or dark-coloured geese (two 



