GREY LAG GOOSE 273 



with a (e\v white feathers round the base of the beak ; the feathers of 

 the back are chocolate-brown with pale huffish tips, which in the 

 region of the scapulars and flanks form conspicuous transverse bars ; the 

 breast is white, with a number of irregularly disposed black feathers ; 

 and the beak, legs, and toes are flesh-coloured. The goose is dis- 

 tinguishable from the gander by her somewhat inferior size ; while 

 young birds are recognisable by the absence of black spots on the 

 abdomen and white feathers round the beak. Goslings are olive-brown 

 above, with the forehead, sides of the head, the hind part of the 

 neck, the breast, and the flanks greenish yellow, and the abdomen 

 yellowish white. The weight of the adult is from 9 to 10 lbs. 



The grey lag breeds in Europe north of about latitude 50°, and 

 thence eastwards through Central Asia to southern Siberia ; while 

 in winter it visits the Mediterranean countries, south-western Asia, 

 northern India and China. It is true that the Siberian bird has been 

 separated by some ornithologists as a distinct species, under the name 

 of A user riibrirostris ; but as the chief distinctive character is the 

 darker under-parts, it can scarcely be regarded as more than a local 

 race, especially as doubt has been expressed whether the darker hue 

 of the lower surface is constant. In Great Britain the species is in 

 course of disappearance as a permanent resident, for whereas in 

 pre-drainage days it nested in the Lincolnshire fens and some 

 districts of Yorkshire, its breeding-areas are now restricted to certain 

 parts of the Scottish mainland (inclusive of Ross-shire, Sutherland, and 

 Caithness) and the Hebrides, and even in these districts its numbers 

 are steadily decreasing. Considerable numbers of these geese (although 

 less than those of the brent and the pink-footed species) visit, however, 

 our islands in winter, where they often arrive in flocks in many localities 

 other than the east and west coasts of England. To Ireland, where 

 it is believed to have bred in Leinster during the eighteenth century, 

 the species is now a local winter-visitor to certain districts in the east 

 of Leinster and the lower course of the Shannon, while elsewhere it 

 occurs only irregularly. 



In habits the typical geese are so generally similar, that one 

 account (and this brief) will serve in the main for all. As already 

 mentioned, these birds walk well on land, where they spend a consider- 

 able portion of their time in grazing after a fashion peculiarly their 

 own ; and they likewise swim strongly, with their bodies raised well 

 out of the water. They are all surface-feeders, and generally associate 

 in large flocks, or " gaggles," flying at a high speed in chevron-shaped 

 order ; all are migratory, and their cry is a peculiar cackling sound, 



T 



