AQUATIC FOWLS. 



241 



selected in the London market from the circum- 

 stance of her exhibiting in her plumage the 

 marks which belong to and distinguish the true 

 Gray-legged species, was this season (1841) 

 brought and put down to him. The pair were 

 confined together for a few days, became imme- 

 diately very good friends, and a sitting of eggs 

 was the consequence. 



"These were hatched, and have proved pro- 

 lific. Some were hatched in the two following 

 seasons, and some of their descendants still re- 

 main at the gardens. Eight young ones were 

 hatched out from eleven eggs of the first cross, 

 and seven young ones the next season from ten 

 eggs ; but from some cause the young geese de- 

 rived from the first pair of birds do not now pro- 

 duce large broods ; the number of eggs has 

 been, in two instances, only six, and in three 

 instances only five. Some farmers, who re- 

 ceived specimens of these geese, declined keep- 

 ing them as stock, because they produced such 

 small broods in some instances only four." 



This reduction of the number of eggs seems 

 to us consistent both with the infusion of the 

 wild blood and the continued collateral al- 

 liances. But this falling off from the product- 

 iveness of the tame goose, we imagine would, 

 after a time, be regained; and again, as in 

 such cases an argument is often drawn against 

 the probability of the Gray-leg being the stock 

 from whence proceeded our domestic bird, from 

 the reduced size of the young, it is sufficient to 

 reply, that in many of those instances where 

 this objection has been raised, proof is wholly 

 wanting to show that the Gray-legged goose 

 has been the wild parent ; while, from the com- 

 parative scarcity of that bird, and the abundance 

 in which the Bean goose may be obtained, the 

 latter, we have every reason to believe, has 

 often been the bird alluded to under the com- 

 mon name of the "Wild Goose." 



If this be so, loss of size in such hybrids will 

 be readily understood by any one conversant 

 with the great difference in this respect between 

 the two wild species. 



The general tone of the plumage and the fig- 

 ure of the Gray-legged goose are closely repeat- 

 ed in many specimens of the gray domesticated 

 bird ; the variations that occur not passing be- 



Q 



yond the limits that the control of man would 

 probably occasion. Thus the pale color of the 

 Avild bird's legs and feet, which gives it its dis- 

 tinctive name, is changed to a brighter hue in 

 the tame bird ; but to account for such an al- 

 teration, it will hardly be considered necessary 

 to refer to the introduction of the pink-footed 

 race. 



Mr. Selby, in his "Illustration of British Orni- 

 thology," thus expresses himself: "It is gener- 

 ally admitted that our race of domestic geese 

 has originally sprung from this (the Gray-legged 

 goose) species, and however altered they may 

 now appear in bulk, color, or habits, the essential 

 habits remain the same; no disinclination to 

 breed with each other is evinced between them, 

 and the offspring of wild and domesticated birds 

 are as prolific as their mutual parents." 



The common gray, white, or mottled goose, 

 has hitherto, with but few exceptions, formed the 

 general stock of this country ; and from disre- 

 gard to the degeneracy, occasioned by breeding 

 in-and-in, inferior specimens have become far 

 too common. 



These causes, too, with neglect of proper atten- 

 tion when young, have in many instances so re- 

 duced their weight at maturity, that they fall 

 short of a Brazilian drake, and a corresponding 

 depreciation of the flesh, in both flavor and text- 

 ure, is the consequent result. 



The ganders are usually white, or with a 

 preponderance of that color, while the geese 

 have various shades of ash-gray, and a dull 

 leaden-brown with it; a preference is often 

 expressed for those that have no white what- 

 ever, excepting only on the lower part of the 

 body. 



Of all our domestic birds none are so profit- 

 able as geese, where there are facilities for keep- 

 ing them ; for there are none which can do so 

 much for themselves when alive, and none that 

 come to so little waste when dead. Unlike the 

 fowl, all parts of the goose are equally good. 

 Besides which, every feather is of value, greater 

 than that of every other of our domestic birds.. 

 Every housewife knows how to appreciate bed- 

 ding stuffed with their plumage ; and in these 

 days of steel pens, the goose still possesses quills. 

 When young, or in the " green" state, as some 



