ANATID^-. 



385 



THE GREY LAG-GOOSE. 



Anser ciNEREUs, Mevcr, 



This species is generally supposed to be the principal source from 

 which our domestic race has sprung, and, according to Prof. Skeat, 

 the trival name indicates that it is the Grey Goose which in former 

 days lagged behind to breed in our fens, when its congeners had 

 betaken themselves to more northerly regions. Early in this cen- 

 tury, however, it ceased to nest in Lincolnshire, and below the 

 Humber it is now of rare occurrence ; while further north it is almost 

 unknown along the east coast. Even in winter it is uncommon in 

 the south, and also along the west coast, while in the Solway dis- 

 trict and throughout the greater part of Scotland it is seldom 

 met with ; but it still breeds, though in rapidly decreasing numbers, 

 in Ross, Caithness, Sutherland, and, more abundantly, in the 

 Hebrides, especially the outer islands. It is, in fact, the only 

 kind of Wild Goose which nests in Scotland, for the statements ■ 

 by Selby as to the breeding of the Bean Goose in Sutherland and 

 by Macgillivray of the Pink-footed Goose in the Hebrides have 

 never been confirmed. To the Orkneys and Shetlands it is only 

 an accidental visitor. In Ireland a colony of semi-domesticated 

 birds has for many years been resident on the lake at Castle Coole 

 (Lord Belmore's), and from autumn till late spring flocks are 



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