WANDERERS. 277 



have short stiff wings ; but when fairly in flight, 

 they would shoot past any gull like rockets. 



With a few words about those large wanderers, 

 the grey geese, I must close. Its name is used 

 as synonymous with stupidity, yet nothing could 

 be wider of the mark; for our domestic goose 

 is by far the most sagacious bird we have in a 

 state of domestication. As to the wild geese, all 

 who know anything about them practically, will 

 agree that the bump of cautiousness has with 

 them reached its fullest development. 



The brent or black geese are sea - geese, and 

 these keep to the tide. The three grey geese I 

 have mentioned include the grey lag, the bean, 

 and the pink-footed goose. Unless by good for- 

 tune a specimen is procured on the spot, it is 

 almost impossible to tell with a glass to which of 

 the three species geese belong when feeding in 

 the fields. I have seen small gaggles at times, 

 but though one could tell that they were wild 

 grey geese, I have never been allowed to get near 

 enough to tell which variety they were. 



If a specimen is procured, it by no means proves 

 that the gaggle it was shot from were all of the 



