GEESE IN INDIA 151 



discovered, or thought that he discovered, that the 

 grey lag geese of the East are not quite hke those of 

 the West ; he therefore made two species of the bird, 

 calling the Indian variety Anser rubirostris, the red- 

 billed goose. Alpheraky denies the alleged difference. 

 The result is that the bird has some half-dozen names, 

 each of which has its votaries. It is this kind of thing 

 which deprives classical nomenclature of all its utility. 

 Until ornithologists learn to grasp the simple fact 

 that the external appearance of every living creature 

 is the result of two sets of forces, internal or hereditary, 

 and external or the influence of environment, they will 

 always be in difficulty over species. Englishmen who 

 dwell in sunny climates get browned by the sun, yet 

 no one dreams of making a separate species of sun- 

 burned Englishmen. Why, then, do so in the case of 

 birds whose external appearance is slightly altered 

 by their environment ? 



Even as scientific men have toyed with the Latin 

 name of the bird, so have compositors played with its 

 English name. Nine out of ten of them flatly decline 

 to call it the grey lag goose ; they persist in setting it 

 down as the grey leg goose. If the bird's legs were grey 

 this would not matter. Unfortunately they are not. 

 In extenuation of the conduct of the compositor there 

 is the fact that etymologists are unable to agree as to 

 the meaning and derivation of the word lag. 



The other common species of goose is the barred- 

 headed goose (Anser indicus). This is not found in 

 Europe. It is a grey bird, more so than the grey lag 

 goose, with two black bands across the back of the head. 



