THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE 



177 



but that men, nearly six thousand years ago, must 

 have kept rare birds in captivity for the pleasure of 

 their beauty, and that artists went to their zoological 

 gardens or collections, and drew pictures of the 

 inhabitants of far -distant climes for the walls of 

 their temples or tombs. As a realistic study of 

 bird-life this little picture is admirable, the set of 

 the head and peculiar curve of the Feeding Geese 

 is singularly true, whilst the whole is carried 

 through in a broad decorative spirit. It is curious 

 that in a country where the earliest art took subjects 

 from Nature, there should now be such absolute 

 apathy that in many cases the people have no 

 separate names for the birds around them. Egypt 

 has other geese that visit it, but none others native 

 to it. The White-fronted Goose is said to be the 

 most abundant of all, the Brent Goose and the 

 Bean Goose, all three visiting the Nile and Delta 

 in the winter months. 



