ANATIDJE. 457 



be the original of our tame Geese. On this subject 

 Yarrell says that at one of the shows of Domestic 

 Poultry and Water-fowl held at the Zoological 

 Gardens in 1845, there was a fine specimen of the 

 Greylag Goose exhibited, and next to him a pair of 

 domestic Geese, and that it was obvious the 

 domestic birds were derived from the Greylag. 

 " The pinky flesh-colour of the beak and the white 

 nail; the distribution of the markings of the 

 plumage generally; the large blue-grey space on 

 the anterior portion of the wing; the flesh-colour 

 of the legs and feet ; and the voice were alike in 

 both." The white and speckled Geese one sees 

 about in our commons and poultry-yards may easily 

 be accounted for, as all birds seem to vary in the 

 colour of their plumage under domestication, espe- 

 cially towards white : in this case the tendency to 

 variation has probably been increased by a cross 

 with the Bean Goose and Whitefronted Goose; 

 artificial selection has also probably had something 

 to do with it, as, white feathers being the more 

 valuable, the whitest birds have probably for a very 

 long period been selected to breed from ; but in spite 

 of these various reasons for divergence, the Goose 

 has differed less than most domesticated species 

 from the original stock.* 



* Darwin's ' Animals and Plants under Domestication,' 

 vol. i. 



