232 THE WHITE, CHINA GOOSE. 



with them, owing, as I fancied, to my having no wa- 

 ter for them, except a rapid running stream. A quiet 

 lake, I believe to be more to their taste, and more con- 

 ducive to the fecundity of the eggs. I believe my 

 birds are still in the neighborhood, as I lent them to a 

 farmer to try his luck with them. The egg is quite 

 small for the size of the bird, being not more than half 

 the size of that of the common goose. This bird de- 

 serves to rank in the first class of ornamental poultry, 

 and would be very prolific under favorable circumstan- 

 ces. You will see both varieties of brown and white, 

 China geese on the water in St. James's Park. My 

 geese were from imported parents, and were hatched 

 on board ship from China." 



These geese, it is stated, formerly existed in the 

 aviaries of the London Zoological Society, and were 

 there considered in the light of a variety of the Anser 

 cygnoides ; but the head keeper of that establishment 

 speaks most decidedly of his experience of the perma- 

 nence, not only of this variety, but also of that of the 

 dark-legged sorts of the brown kind, thus indicating 

 three races, which, I repeat, would be considered as 

 species were they now discovered for the first time. 



Mr. Dixon, in speaking of these birds, says, " They 

 are larger than the brown, China geese, apparently 

 more terrestrial in their habits ; the knob on the head 

 is not only of greater proportions, but of a different 

 shape. If they were only what is commonly meant 

 by a variety of the dark sort, it is a question whether 

 the bill would not retain its original jetty black, 

 whatever change occurred to the feet and legs, instead 

 of assuming a brilliant orange hue. If the bird were 

 an albino, the bill would be flesh-colored, and the eyes 

 would be pink, not blue." 



Mr. Knight, of Frome, England, in whose possession 

 they had been for three years, states that he has been 

 unable to obtain any young from the eggs of the goose, 

 but if he supplies her with eggs of the common goose, 

 she invariably hatches and rears the goslings. Separ- 



