500 BRITISH BIRDS. 



ANSER CINEREUS. 

 GREY-LAG GOOSE. 



(PLATE 58.) 



Anser domesticus, Briss. Orn. yi. p. 262 (1760). 



Anas anser, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 197 (1766). 



Anser cinereus, Meyer, Taschenb. ii. p. 552 (1810) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



Degland 8f Gerbe, Bonaparte, Naumann, Dresser, Saunders, &c. 

 Anas anser ferus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 526 (1815). 

 Anser medius, Meyer, Taschenb. Zus. u. Ber. p. 231 (1822). 

 Anser ferus (Temm.}, Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. xii. pt. ii. p. 28 (1824). 

 Anser vulgaris, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. ii. p. 222 (1826). 

 Anser palustris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 126 (1828). 



A hundred years ago the Grey-lag Goose bred in the fens and marshes 

 of the eastern counties of England ; but the reclamation of these extensive 

 wastes has long since driven these birds to seek more congenial quarters. 

 Its only breeding-places in the British Islands are in Scotland (in Ross, 

 Sutherland, and Caithness) and on many of the Western Islands, and in 

 Ireland on the lake at Castle Coole in co. Monaghan. On the east coast 

 of Scotland, including the Orkneys and Shetland, the Grey-lag Goose is a 

 rare visitor ; it becomes more common in winter on the east coast of 

 England, but is rare on the south. In Ireland it is much rarer, and is 

 only known to breed in the above-mentioned locality. 



The Grey-lag Goose is confined to the Old World ; but its breeding- 

 range extends from the Atlantic almost, if not quite, to the Pacific. It is 

 doubtful whether it has ever occurred in Iceland, and has ceased to breed 

 on the Faroes, though it is still found there on migration. It breeds 

 throughout Scandinavia and Denmark, in North Russia south of the 

 Arctic circle, in the Baltic Provinces, and in Pomerania. It has been 

 driven from most of its breeding-grounds in North Germany, and is only 

 known on migration in Holland, Belgium, and France, except in very mild 

 winters. It is chiefly a winter visitor to the Spanish peninsula, but a few 

 remain to breed. In Central Europe it is principally known on migration ; 

 but it breeds in the valley of the Danube and winters on both shores of 

 the Mediterranean, though it has not been observed in North-east Africa. 

 East of the Ural Mountains it breeds as far south as the Caucasus and 

 probably Central Persia, and as far north as the Arctic circle in the valley 



