AQUATIC FOWLS. 



257 



THE BAEXACLE GOOSE. 



would not retain its original jet black, whatever 

 change occurred to the feet and legs, instead of 

 assuming a brilliant orange hue. If the bird 

 were an albino the bill would be flesh-colored, 

 and the eyes would be pink, not blue." 



Mr. Knight, of Frome, England, in whose 

 possession they had been for three years, states 

 that he has been unable to obtain any young 

 from the eggs of the goose, but if he supplies 

 her with eggs of the common goose, she invari- 

 ably hatches and rears the goslings. Separate 

 trials of each of the pair with the common 

 goose and gander have been made by him un- 

 successfully, although the white China goose 

 lays four times in the year. Another gentle- 

 man, who also had a pair of the same lot from 

 China, says, "I had one good brood from the 

 young pair which I kept, but since that they 

 have laid so badly that I have parted with the 

 females, and kept a male bird, and now get very 

 good broods. My friends, to whom I have given 

 young birds from my pair, also complain. The 

 geese sit remarkably well, never showing them- 

 selves out of the nest by day, but whether they 

 may leave the nests too long in the cold of the 

 night I can not tell. The time of incubation I 

 consider to be about four weeks and three days. 

 The young birds of the crossed breeds in ap- 

 pearance follow the mother, the common En- 

 glish goose, but they do remarkably well. 



"In point of longevity they are said to be 

 far from equaling the domestic goose. A cross 

 of the China gander with our common goose 

 R 



has been strongly recommended, as producing 

 finer birds, and of much finer flavor. Hybrids 

 between them and the common goose are pro- 

 lific with the common goose, and the second 

 and third cross is much prized, particularly for 

 their ganders ; and in many of the flocks the 

 blood of the China goose may often be traced 

 by the more erect gait of the birds, accompanied 

 by a faint stripe down the back of the neck." 



THE BARNACLE GOOSE. 



This bird is a native of the high northern 

 latitudes of Europe, but during the winter seeks 

 warmer quarters on the shores of Great Britain. 

 They are shy and wary, and can only be ap- 

 proached by means of the most cautious ma- 

 noeuvres. 



The Barnacle breeds in Iceland, Greenland, 

 and the north of Russia, and of Asia. It is of 

 handsome form, standing high on its limbs. 

 The flesh is excellent, and they weigh about 

 eight pounds a pair. The bill is small and 

 black, with a reddish streak on each side ; the 

 cheeks and throat, with the exception of a black 

 line from the eye to the beak, white; head, 

 neck, and shoulders black ; under plumage mar- 

 bled with blue, gray, black, and white; tail 

 black; under parts white; legs dusky. Al- 

 though the Barnacle is so shy and cautious in 

 a wild state, yet when brought under a state of 

 domestication, it is as tame as any of the goose 

 tribe. A pair of these geese were exhibited at 

 the show in New York, by R. L. Colt, Esq., of 



