54 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Family ANA T1DSE. 



THE GREY LAG-GOOSE, 



Anser cinereits, MEYER, 



WHATEVER may have been the former position of this Goose in Great 

 Britain, it must now be considered the rarest of the four commoner 

 species of Grey Geese which are included in our avi-fauna. At one time a per- 

 manent resident in the fen districts of the eastern counties, and in the carrs of 

 Yorkshire. There can be no doubt that this wild species is the ancestor and 

 originator of the domestic breed, although it is probable, as Yarrell remarks, that 

 another species (Anser albifronsj had some share in establishing the tame race, 

 these two being the ancestors of those enormous flocks of Geese, formerly kept 

 for profit, in a semi-domesticated state, in the wild fenland of Eastern England. 



The drainage of the lowlands, at the commencement of the present century, 

 drove the Grey Lag from its ancient quarters, and at the pi'esent day it only remains 

 to nest in Sutherlandshire, Caithness and Cromarty, and the Hebrides, more particu- 

 larly the outer islands. In these localities it can scarcely yet be called uncommon, 

 although I regret to state that its regular nesting places are yearly decreasing in 

 number, and others becoming partially deserted. 



The European range of the Grey Lag is somewhat restricted, its breeding 

 quarters not extending so far north as the three other species of Grey Geese. 

 It nests regularly in many parts of temperate Europe, and in Asia as far east as 

 lake Baikal. Dr. O. Finsch says it was the only species of Goose seen by them 

 on the Ala-kxil, and it had hatched its young by May gth. It is plentiful in 

 Macedonia, and not uncommon in Bulgaria, where it breeds, a few also in the 

 marshes of Spain. Great numbers breed in the valley and delta of the Terek in 

 the Caucasus. Dr. O. Fiusch found it nesting in Western Siberia, with the young 

 hatched off by May gth. It was plentiful, in flocks, near Obdorsk, in August. 

 Messrs. Alston and Harvie-Brown saw many in the neighbourhood of Archangel, 

 (" The Ibis," 73, p. 70). It nests in very considerable numbers in Northern 

 Norway, and the islands which fringe the coast. In Iceland, on July ist, and, 

 and 3rd, 1894, Messrs. H. J. and C. E. Pearson found 3 r oung goslings. Formerly 



