86 



ill large pens, and treated much like fowls as regards 

 food. 



Geese ma}- be white or pied as well as the normal 

 grey of the wild Ajiscr fents. When the grey and 

 and white colours are crossed inheritance is not alter- 

 native, though it appears to be so in the case of the 

 rare silver-grey variety. The Grey Goose produces 

 fertile hybrids with the very distinct Chinese Goose 

 (the domesticated form of the Cygnopsh cygnoides of 

 Eastern Asia), and these hybrids should be bred from 

 and their peculiarities systematically noted. Such 

 liybrid geese would be just as useful as pure bred 

 ones, and thus important scientific results might be 

 got from profitable birds. Given a pond and a grass 

 range, geese require less attention than any other 

 domestic animals. 



For the construction of an aviary only wood, 

 half- inch mesh wire netting, and roofing felt are 

 required. The building should face south if possible, 

 and should have the ends of wood, the front only 

 being wired. The minimum height and depth should 

 be six feet. The foundations should be so secured 

 with wire as to prevent the ingress of rats. The inside, 

 if the aviary is more than six feet long, should be 

 divided by moveable wire partitions, the number being 

 regulated by circumstances. An outdoor compart- 

 ment, wire-netting roofed and laid down with grass, is 

 a desirable but not absolutely necessary addition : it 

 can be made as an extension of the front or of one 

 end. Cost will depend to some extent on local 

 conditions, and cannot be exactly stated. It should 

 not, however, come to much more than los. per foot 

 of frontage, and if small aviaries are needed, these can 

 be bought quite cheaply. 



