THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



THE EGYPTIAN GOObE. 



attention, particularly in the vicinity of their 

 haunts. To succeed in domestication, the most 

 likely method would be, probably, to make an 

 approach to their natural habits, by supplying 

 them with occasional marine diet. It might 

 also be expedient to assemble them in a flock 

 instead of just keeping a single pair, so that 

 they could consult their own individual choice 

 of partners. Their picturesque effect, too, will 

 be greater in this way. Their almost uniform 

 color of leaden black, and their compactness of 

 form, make them a striking feature in the scene, 

 though they can not be compared in beauty 

 with many other water-fowl. There is so little 

 difference in the sexes it is not easy to distin- 

 guish them. 



"Immense numbers of Brant geese," says 

 Mr. St. John, "float with every tide into the bays 

 formed by the bar. As the tide recedes, they 

 land on the grass, and feed in close packed 

 flocks. On the land, they are light, active 

 birds, walking quickly, and with a graceful car- 

 riage. On any alarm, before rising, they run 

 together as close as they can ; thus affording a 



good chance to the sportsman, who may be 

 concealed near enough, of making his shot tell 

 among their heads and necks." 



THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 



This bird belongs to a different genus from 

 any other goose. Martin observes that it con- 

 stitutes one of the links between the Anatidce 

 and Galatores, or waders. Its size is less than 

 the common goose, and it is chiefly kept on ac- 

 count of the beauty of its plumage and its sin- 

 gular habits. Its Greek name, Chenolopex, sig- 

 nifies fox-goose, indicative of its resemblance to 

 the fox in cunning and vigilance. 



The Egyptian goose is abundant along the 

 banks of the Nile, and is distributed over the 

 continent of Africa generally. It also visits the 

 southern shores of Europe, and is not uncom- 

 monly seen in Sicily* According to Temminck 

 it was this species which was held in veneration 

 by the ancient Egyptians, and of which figures 

 are frequently observed among the monumental 

 remains of that extraordinary nation. 



The ancients regarded the eggs of this species 



