AQUATIC FOWLS. 



261 



as second in flavor only to those of the Pea-fowl. 

 The Egyptian goose is often kept, because of its 

 beauty, in a semi-domesticated state, on orna- 

 mental sheets of water, both in England and on 

 the Continent, and in that condition it breeds 

 freely ; hence it happens that the young, when 

 fledged, often take wing, and wandering about 

 on rivers or lakes, are shot ; a circumstance, as 

 Mr. Gould observes, which occurs yearly. 



The habits of this goose closely resemble those 

 of the rest of the tribe. The bill is long, slender, 

 nearly straight, and rounded at the tip ; the up- 

 per mandible is slightly curved, and the nail 

 hooked (see figure). The tarsi are elongated ; 

 the neck is long and slender; the general con- 

 tour compact. 



Mr. John Giles, of Woodstock, Connecticut, 

 who has some of these geese, which he import- 

 ed, says: "Among the truly ornamental, the 

 Egyptian goose stands first. They are a part of 

 the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, a favorite 

 article of food for the priests, and their eggs are 

 considered of delicious flavor. They are hardy, 

 and easy to raise ; laying seldom over seven 

 eggs at a time. Three broods can be brought 

 off in one season, by setting their first and sec- 

 ond laying of eggs under a hen. They are very 

 pugnacious over their nest and young, and woe 

 be to the intruder. 



" The plumage of the Egyptian goose is most 

 beautiful ; the base of the bill and the space sur- 

 rounding the eyes is a chestnut brown ; cheeks, 

 ci'own, chin, and throat yellowish white. The 

 neck is yellowish brown, paler on the fore part, 

 and on the back reddish-brown ; the upper part 

 of the back, the breast, and flank pale yellowish- 

 brown, minutely waved with a darker tint ; the 

 centre of the breast and belly nearly white, with 

 a dark patch (a horse-shoe) of chestnut brown, 

 where the parts may be said to join ; vent and 

 under-tail coverts, buff orange ; the lower back, 

 rump, upper-tail coverts, and tail black ; wings, 

 as far as the greater coverts, pure white, the 

 latter having a deep black bar near their tips ; 

 the wing-feathers or tertials, chestnut-red, with 

 grayish-brown color on the inner webs ; second- 

 aries, black at the tips, and with the outer webs 

 a brilliant varying green. 



"They are a rare bird, hard to be obtained, 



but when obtained, easily kept. Their weight, 

 about twelve pounds per pair." 



It is a most stately and rich bird, reminding 

 one of the solemn antiquity of the Nile, with it 

 gorgeous mantle of golden hues and its long his- 

 tory. They are very prolific, bringing off three 

 broods a year, from eight to twelve each time . 

 their weight is about eight pounds each. 



GOOSE HOUSES, NESTS, ETC. 



In selecting a situation for a goose-house o: 

 pen, all damp must be avoided ; for geese, how- 

 ever much they may like to swim in water, art- 

 fond at all times of a clean, dry place to sleep in. 



It is not good to keep geese with other poul- 

 try ; for when confined in the poultry-yard the} 

 become very quarrelsome, harass and injure the 

 other fowls ; therefore it is best to erect low 

 sheds, with nests partitioned off, of suitable size 

 to accommodate them ; and there should never 

 be over eight under one roof; the large ones 

 generally beat the smaller, in which case they 

 should of course be separated, one from the oth- 

 er, by partitions extending out some distance 

 from the nests. 



The nests for hatching should be made of 

 fine straw, of a circular shape, and so arranged 

 that the eggs can not fall out when the goose 

 turns them. From thirteen to fifteen will be as 

 many as a large goose can conveniently cover. 

 The ganders remain near when sitting, and seem 

 to watch them as a kind of sentinel, and woe be 

 to man or beast that dares approach them ; and 

 they seem very anxious to see the young ones, 

 that are to be born, make their appearance. 



Incubation lasts from twenty-eight to thirty 

 days, and not two months, as some state, and 

 the goose shotild have water placed near her, 

 and be well fed as soon as she comes off the 

 nest, that she may not be so long absent as to 

 allow the eggs to cool, which might cause her 

 to abandon her task. 



After twenty-eight or twenty-nine days' in- 

 cubation, the goslings begin, but frequently at 

 an interval of from twenty-four to forty-eight 

 hours, to chip the shell. 



Like turkey-chickens, goslings must be taken 

 from under the mother, lest, if feeling the young 

 ones under her, she might perhaps leave the rest 



