248 



UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



are descended from the Mallard or Wild Duck (Anas boschas], 

 which has a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. 

 This bird seems to have been tamed at a later date than the 

 Fowl, but it was apparently kept in a state of semi-domestica- 

 tion by the Greeks so long ago as the time of Aristophanes 

 (448(?)-388 B.C.). From them the Romans appear to have learnt 

 its virtues, but we gather from Varro (116-27 B - c -) tnat m ms 

 time the taming process was not complete, for he states that 

 duck-enclosures should be covered with nets, to prevent the escape 

 of their inmates, as well as to exclude predaceous animals. 



Other species 

 of duck are also 

 domesticated in 

 Europe, especially 

 the Musk or 

 " Muscovy " Duck 

 (Cairina mos- 



chata], native to 

 South America. 



THE GOOSE 

 (ANSER DOMESTI- 

 cus). Geese have 

 been domesticated 

 from very remote 

 times, on which 

 point Darwin remarks (in Animals and Plants under Domestica- 

 tion)'. "That geese were anciently domesticated we know from 

 certain verses in Homer; and from these birds having been kept 

 (388 B.C.) in the capitol at Rome as sacred to Juno, which sacred- 

 ness implies great antiquity". It is generally held that the tame 

 European breeds are descended from the Gray Lag Goose (Anser 

 cinereus, fig. 1180), native to Britain and most countries of the 

 Continent, and ranging east to China. There are but few domes- 

 ticated varieties, and these resemble one another and the parent 

 stock more than might be expected; there having been far less 

 variation than, e.g. in the case of Fowls. The most obvious 

 difference between a tame and a wild bird consists in the lighter 

 or even perfectly white plumage of the former. 



The soft under-feathers of geese are largely used for stuffing 

 pillows and beds, being of greater value in this connection than 



Fig. 1 1 80. Gray Lag Geese (Anser cinereus] 



