WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 15 
of the tail (¢azl-coverts) white ; the feathers of the neck 
are usually ridged or pleated. 
The eyes are always dark, and the feet some shade of 
reddish or yellowish, never black or grey, as is often the 
case in our other Anatide. The colour of the beak and 
feet is more variable than is usual in birds. 
Sauce for the goose is proverbially sauce for the 
gander, and they almost exactly resemble each other. 
though the former is usually rather smaller. Nor are 
the young very different from their parents in general 
appearance, though they often lack some of the charac- 
teristic marks of their species, and their feathers are 
narrower and more rounded than those of their parents. 
_ In their habits and movements Geese are also very 
uniform. They are rather land than water-birds, 
though they swim well (being noticeably high in the 
stern on the water) and dive fairly ; but most of their 
time is spent on shore, where they walk well, though 
with a peculiar swaying gait, and can run fast and 
traverse long distances on foot if necessary. They 
occur in flocks if numerous. 
Their flight is strong ; they rise readily, and can even 
perform various evolutions in the air, such as turning 
somersaults like a tumbler-pigeon. In feeding they are 
more strict vegetarians than most birds, living almost 
entirely on vegetable food, such as grass, roots and grain; 
and when numerous, they may become terribly destruc- 
tive to crops, not only by what they eat, but by tram- 
pling them down. They are themselves good food, if not 
equal to the best Ducks. They all breed outside India, 
to the north and west, building on the ground, and lay- 
ing from six to a dozen eggs, yellowish white in 
colour. 
Their voice is a cackle or a hiss, the latter when 
enraged, at which time the ludicrous appearance of the 
gander with gaping mouth and lowered neck, is well 
