WILD OKESIE.] 



BY FIELD, WOOD, AND AVATEK. [the Siberian oooii. 



nnd, Iiavinc: Iv(*pt liim at bay for a considoraMo 

 time with lior \viii>j;H, at last suctvodi'd in 

 drowninp: liim ; after which, in the sipjht of 

 several persona, slio returned in triumph. 

 This circumatanco took phico at IVnay, in 

 'Ruekin;j;haniahire. 



Swans are very lonc;-lived, soniotimcs arriv- 

 inc; at the age of one hundred years. 



WILD GKKSE, 

 Six different species of wild geeso aro said 

 to visit the British shores iu winter. The 

 grey-lag is one, and is the original of our com- 

 mon domestic goose. Its flocks aro well-known 

 to all country people, I'rom tho circumstance 

 of their always flying in a particular figure — 

 that of a w edge. They are diflicult to approach 

 in regular hunting form, being shy and wary 

 to a proverb. When they arrive in winter, 

 they frequent the sea-coast, and little rivulets 

 and creeks, feeding on marine and other 

 grasses, and display a great partiality to green 

 wheat. Tlie only mode of getting within range 

 of them is by ambush, or advancing upon 

 them under cover of some kind. Colonel 

 Hawker recommends, that we "ascertain, 

 in the watery meads, what part they have used 

 (which we shall be able to see by their dung 

 and feathers) ; and then we should wait for 

 them, at dusk, in some ambush that commands 

 the fresh places adjoining. Contrive, if possi- 

 ble, to get the line of a dyke or drain, so as to 

 take their company in the flank." Mr. Daniel 

 likewise says — " Their flight is always (except 

 in thick fogs) very elevated ; their motion is 

 smooth, accompanied with little rustling, and 

 the play of the wings seems never to exceed 

 two or three inches ; the regularity with which 

 they are marshalled, implies a sort of intelli- 

 gence superior to that of other birds, which 

 migrate in disorderly bodies. The arrange- 

 ment observed by the geese, is at once calcu- 

 lated to preserve tho ranks entire, to break the 

 resistance of the air, and to lessen the exertion 

 of the squadron. They form two oblique lines, 

 like the letter V; or, if their number be small, 

 only one line. Generally they amount to forty 

 or fifty, and each keeps its rank with admirable 

 exactness. The chief, which occupies the point 

 ot the angle, and first cleaves the air, retires, 

 when fatigued, to the rear, and the rest by 

 turns assume the station of the van. Pliny 



describes tho wonderful harmony that prevails 

 in these iliL,'litH, and remarks that, unlike tho 

 cranes and tho storks, which journey in tlio 

 obscurity of the night, the geeso aro seen 

 pursuing their route in broad day." 



The wild gooso generally weiglia about ton 

 pouiuis ; and is two feet nine inclies long, and 

 iivo broad. The bill is thick at the base, tapers 

 towards tho tip, and is of a dullish-red hue, 

 with tho nail white. The head and neck are 

 brown, tinged with dull yellow, and, from tho 

 separation of tho feathers, the latter appears 

 striped downwards. The upper part of tho 

 plumage is of a deep brown, mixed with ash- 

 grey. Each feather is lighter on tho edges, 

 and the lesser coverts are tipped with white. 

 Tho shafts of the leading quills aro white; 

 the webs grey, and the tips black. TIio secon- 

 daries are black, tinged with white. Tho 

 breast and belly are crossed and clouded with 

 dusky and ash colours on a whitish ground ; 

 the tail and vent are of a snowy whiteness. 

 The middle feathers of the tail are dusky, 

 tipped with white ; those adjoining, more deeply 

 tipped ; and the exterior ones are nearly all 

 white. The legs are pale red. 



During any succession of frosty days, espe- 

 cially if accompanied with a snow-storm, there 

 are few places, on the British coast, which will 

 not aflbrd more or less wild goose shooting. If 

 going on the water, or into the marshes, after 

 these birds, does not suit the convenience or 

 choice of the sportsman, by visiting the brooks 

 and small rivers that are only partially frozen, 

 and following their course, be may be almost 

 certain of meeting with some of these birds. 

 There are many localities in the moor districts 

 of the north of England where they are found 

 in winter, even when it has not been either 

 very cold or stormy. 



THE SIBERIAN GOOSE. 



The Anser EuJicoUis of Linnccus, also called 

 the Laughing Gooso, is white fronted. It 

 is seldom seen in Britain. Colonel Hawker 

 tells us, that it was unknown hero till the frost 

 of 1S30, when there were eighty of them 

 alighted in a field near the village of Wilford, 

 where, he says, they were beset by a swarm of 

 gunners, and attacked, but only with very 

 moderate success. The colonel himself suc- 

 ceeded, however, on the following day, in 



583 



