GREY-LAG GOOSE 



WILD-GOOSE GREY-LAG GOOSE. 



PLATE CLXXXIIL FIGURE I. 



Anser cinereus, ..... MEYER. 



Anser palustris, .... FLEMING. SELBY. 



Anser ferus, JENYNS. 



THE nest of this Goose, which still breeds in the north 

 of Scotland, is made of grass, rushes, leaves, or dry 

 stalks of plants, under cover of some rushes or osiers, and 

 is well lined with feathers. It is large in size, and is 

 located in a marsh, or by the border of a lake or inland sea. 

 The male keeps guard near it while his partner sits. 



The eggs are said to be commonly five or six in 

 number, but as many as twelve are said to have been 

 found. They are of a dull yellowish white, smooth, and 

 shining in appearance. 



Meyer says : " The female is very careful in covering the 

 eggs with some of the surrounding materials, whenever she 

 leaves the nest for a short time ; and it may serve as a 

 safe guide to persons who go in search of the eggs, that if 

 they are uncovered they are forsaken, and are, consequently, 

 not worth leaving in the nest. As soon as the Goose has 

 laid her full number of eggs, she plucks the down off her 

 breast, and disposes it in such a manner among the eggs, 

 that they .retain an equal temperature even at the changes 



