62 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Von Middendorff found it nesting abundantly on the Taimur Peninsula, between 

 lat. 70 and 74, where the Bean Goose had become comparatively rare. He 

 describes the nest as built on a grassy hillock, a mere hollow on the summit, 

 abundantly lined with down. Seebohm says, in " Arctic Asia the flocks are three 

 weeks later than the Bean Goose in passing north." " Dall found it breeding in 

 great numbers on the banks of the river Yukon, in Alaska, and describes the 

 nests as mere depressions in the sand ; further east Mac Farlane found at the 

 mouth of the Anderson river, the nests were substantially lined with dry grass 

 and feathers, as well as down." 



In both these latter cases it is probably that the American A. gambelii is the 

 species referred to. 



The eggs are five to seven, of a creamy white, and buried in down, as with 

 the rest of the Geese. 



Colonel Shelley (" Birds of Egypt," p. 280) says : "This is the most abundant 

 Goose in Egypt, where it may be usually met with in flocks, but does not remain 

 in the country later than March. When on the wing they fly in a wedge-shaped 

 flock, and frequently utter a loud harsh cry, which may be heard at a considerable 

 distance. They are generally on the move just before sunrise and sunset, and as 

 they are very regular, taking the same line of flight, and feeding at the same 

 spot each day, they may be most readily obtained by lying in wait for them. If 

 once fired at, the flock generally leaves the neighbourhood altogether." 



All the Grey Geese, when they have fed in the autumn some time on grain, 

 are by no means bad for the larder. When, however, they have been feeding 

 long on grasses, roots, and particularly the roots of sedges in bogs and peat 

 mosses, the flesh is coarse and not altogether agreeable. From a gastronomic 

 point, all depends on the season when the Goose was shot. Our marsh shooters 

 used to affirm, in the days when Geese were more abundant, if you require a 

 tender Goose do not shoot at the leading birds, but take those in rear of the 

 flock. It need scarcely be said that a young Goose is preferable to an old one, 

 and the young grain-fed birds are good eating, providing always they are not 

 kept too long ; all wild fowl, unlike game, should be eaten fresh. 



In Mr. Walter Rothschild's magnificent Natural History Museum, at Triug, 

 there is a skin of a Goose which, Mr. Hartert thinks, is a cross between Anser 

 albifrons and Bernicla brenta. The late Lord Lilford had a female of this species 

 which, in three successive seasons, mated with a male Beau Goose, layed eggs, 

 and reared several young birds. 



