GREY LAG GOOSE. 7 



killed at tlie same place, and two or three others were 

 said to have been seen. This bird much resembled my 

 own in general appearance, and was also a male. The 

 stomach was filled with short wiry grass.'^ 



On the 15th of December of the same year another 

 fine specimen, now in Mr. Newcome's collection, at 

 Feltwell, was shot at Horsey, near Yarmouth; and on 

 the 17th of February, 1865, an adult male, preserved 

 by Mr. Baker, of Cambridge, was killed at Welney, near 

 Lynn, the last I have heard of in tliis county. 



The grey lag goose, whether adult or immature, 

 may be readily distinguished from such species as most 

 nearly assimilate in plumage, by the bluish-grey colour 

 of the shoulders and the lower part of the back and 

 rump, a very marked characteristic. It should be borne 

 in mind, also, that in the grey lag and white-fronted 

 goose the " nail " of the beak is white, but in the bean 

 and pink-footed goose it is black ; and again in the 

 bean and white-fronted goose the legs are orange, but 

 in the grey lag and pink-footed goose, more or less 

 flesh-coloured. 



The grey lag is generally supposed to be the origin 

 of our domestic goose, but Yarrell is most probably 

 correct in supposing that one other species, the white- 

 fronted goose (Anser albifrons), ^^has had some share 

 in establishing our present domestic race," as amongst 

 them we find some with yellow legs and feet, and others 

 with the same parts pale flesh colour, thus resembling 

 both of the above named wild species. But although 

 some tame geese exhibit a partial white front, this alone 



* The measurements of these two birds, taken by myself at 

 the time, will be found in the " Zoologist " for 1864 (p. 9119). The 

 extent of wings, as given by Macgillivray, sixty-four inches, must 

 be a misprint, the above examples measuring only fifty-five and 

 fifty- six respectively from tip to tip. 



