WILD-GOOSE SHOOTING 149 



No birds are more regular or local in their habits 

 than grey geese. The punctuality which marks their 

 arrival here in autumn has often been the subject of 

 comment among wild-fowlers, and observers say that 

 year by year the dates of their appearance and depar- 

 ture vary but little. For a few days after their arrival 

 they spend most of their time at sea or on some open 

 ground near the sea, where they apparently sleep. 

 When once, however, they have settled down in a 

 locality which suits them, they adopt it as their home, 

 unless scarcity of food or severe weather drives them 

 elsewhere. 



In determining their choice of residence, the 

 food supply is, of course, a consideration of the first 

 importance. The bean and white-fronted geese seem 

 to prefer marsh and pasture ground, though they may 

 sometimes be seen feeding on the stubbles and on 

 the young wheat and clover in company with other 

 species of grey geese. Greylags, on the other hand, 

 although frequently found on marshy land near the 

 sea, are perhaps more graminivorous in their tastes. 

 In the Outer Hebrides, Mr. J. G. Duplessis says that 

 these geese do not appear to migrate, nor is there 

 ever any visible addition or diminution in the number 

 of the home-bred birds. Nesting on the small 

 islands in the fresh-water lochs they have generally 



