228 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



retains the same marks; the whole upper part 

 is ash-coloured ; the breast arid belly are of a 

 dirty white; the bill is narrow at the base, 

 and at the tip it is black ; the legs are of a 

 saffron colour, and the claws black. These 



very abundant in Britain ; and was also a permanent re- 

 sident here, breeding annually in great numbers in the 



fens of Lincolnshire, and some of the adjoining counties. 

 The draining and cultivation of these marshy tracts, 

 under progressive agricultural improvement, and the in-- 

 creasing population of the kingdom, has, however, ba- 

 nished these birds from their ancient haunts ; and they 

 are now, comparatively speaking, of rare occurrence, 

 and, as far as I can ascertain, only met with in small 

 flocks during the winter. They seem to have given 

 place, as it were, to the Bean Goose which, as a winter 

 visitant, is very numerous, and widely spread through- 

 out the country. According to Temminck, the present 

 species seldom advances much beyond the fifty-third de- 

 gree of north latitude ; its geographical distribution ex- 

 tending over the central and eastern parts of Europe, 

 Northern Asia, and some parts of Western Africa, where 

 it inhabits the marshes, and the borders of lakes and in- 

 land seas. It breeds amongst the rushes and other 

 coarse herbage, making a large nest of vegetable matter, 

 and laying from six to twelve eggs of a sullied white. 

 Its food consists principally of the various grasses of the 

 moist and marshy tracts it affects, though it eats grain 

 with avidity. It is also very fond of the tender blades 

 of wheat, &c., and often, during its periodical visits, 

 does considerable damage to corn fields in an early stage 

 of growth. Being a bird of great shyness and vigi- 

 lance, it can only be approached by stealth, and with the 

 utmost caution ; this is generally effected by that mode 

 of fowling called stalking, in which a horse is so trained, 

 as, hiding the person of the fowler, to advance by de- 

 grees, and in an easy and natural manner, upon the 

 flock, as they are at rest or feeding on the ground. In 

 the latter state, which only occurs during the day- 

 time, sentinels (occasionally relieved) are always on the 

 watch to give notice of approaching danger, which they 

 do, on the slightest suspicion, by a cry of alarm ; and 

 immediately the whole flock take wing, with an alert- 

 ness and rapidity that could scarcely be expected 

 in birds of such bulky appearance. At night they 

 generally retire to the water for repose, but the 

 same watchful attention to safety is maintained by sen- 

 tinels, that distinguishes their conduct during the 

 day. They usually fly at a great height in the air, 

 moving either in a single diagonal line, or in two lines 

 forming an angle, or inverted V. In this order the 

 office of leader is taken by turns, the foremost, when 

 fatigued, retiring to the rear, and allowing the next in 

 station to lead the flight. It is generally admitted that 

 our race of domestic geese has originally sprung from 

 this species, and however altered they may now appear 

 in bulk, colour, or habits, the essential characters re- 

 main the same; no disinclination to breed with each 

 other is evinced between them, and the offspring of 



marks are seldom found in the tame ; whose 

 bill is entirely red, and whose legs are en- 

 tirely brown. The wild goose is rather less 

 than the tame ; but both invariably retain 

 a white ring round their tail, which shows 



wild and domesticated birds are as prolifi as their 

 mutual parents. 



The Bean, or as it is very frequently called, the wild 

 goose, bears in general appearance, and in the colour of 

 its plumage, a great resemblance to the preceding 

 species, and with which it is sometimes confounded. It 

 may, however, be always distinguished from the ray 

 lag by the form of its bill, which is comparatively much 

 smaller, shorter, and more compressed towards the end. 

 The colour of that member also differs, the basal part 

 of the under mandible, and that of the upper as far as 

 the line of the nostrils, with the nails of both mandibles, 

 being black, and the intermediate part flesh-red, inclin- 

 ing to orange. It is also generally less. In Britain 

 it is well known as a regular winter visitant, arriving 

 in large bodies from its northern summer haunts, dur- 

 ing September or the beginning of October, and sel- 

 dom taking its final departure before tho end of April 

 or beginning of May. The various flocks, during 

 their residence in this country, have each their par- 

 ticular haunts or feeding districts, to which on each 

 ensuing season they invariably return, as I have found 

 to be the case in Northumberland and the southern 

 parts of Scotland, where wild geese have been known to 

 frequent certain localities for a continued series of years. 

 The habits of this and the preceding species are very 

 similar, and they show the same vigilance, and use the 

 same means of guarding against surprise : their capture 

 is therefore proportionably difficult, and it is only by 

 stratagem that, when at rest on the ground or feeding, 

 they can be approached within gun-shot. In stormy 

 weather, when they are compelled to fly lower than they 

 usually do, they may be sometimes intercepted from a 

 hedge or bank, situated in the route they are observed 

 to take early in the morning, in passing to their feed- 

 ing ground. At night they retire to the water, or else 

 to some ridge or bar of sand on the sea coast, suffi- 

 ciently distant from the main land to afford a secure 

 retreat ; and where the approach of an enemy must be- 

 come visible, or at least audible to their acute organs, 

 before it could endanger their safety. The haunts or 

 feeding grounds of these birds are more frequently in 

 the higher districts than in the lower and marshy tracts 

 of the country, and they give the preference to open 

 land, or where the inclosures are very large. They 

 feed much upon the tender wheat, sometimes injuring 

 these fields to a great extent; and they frequent also 

 the stubbles, particularly such as are laid down with 

 clover and other grasses. In the early part of spring 

 they often alight upon the newly sown bean and pea 

 fields, picking up greedily such of the pulse as is left on 

 the surface; and I am inclined to think that their 

 trivial name has been acquired from their apparent pre- 

 dilection for this kind of food, rather than from the 

 shape and aspect of the nail of the upper mandible, to 

 which it has been generally attributed. They usually 

 fly at a considerable elevation, either in a diagonal line, 

 or in two such lines, opposed to each other, and form- 

 ing a leading acute angle, like the other species; and 

 when on wing they maintain a loud cackling, in which 

 the voices of the two sexes may be easily distinguished. 

 The rate at which they move, when favoured by a gentle 

 breeze, is seldom less than from forty to fifty miles an 

 hour, a velocity which enables them to have their roost- 

 ing place far removed from the district they frequent by 

 day. The principal breeding stations, or summer re- 

 treats, of the bean goose are in countries within the 

 arctic circle; it is said, however, that great 



