SOME LESSER DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 103 



THE DOMESTICATED GOOSE 



Far abune the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee, 



A lang, lang skein o' beatin' wings, wi' their heids towards the sea, 



And aye their cryin' voices trailed ahint them on the air. 



VIOLET JACOB. 



From these very Wild Geese that in former ages fre- 

 quented Scotland in "innumerable droves" the Scottish 

 peoples have created that gabbling brood, the "grave, un- 



Fig. 25. Grey Lag Geese a wild species domesticated in Scotland. 

 Illustration from Solway specimens. T V nat. size. 



wieldy inmates of the village pond." And how little the 

 change has meant in transformation of shape or habits ; for 

 of all his domesticated stock, geese have perhaps most re- 

 sisted the selective influence of man. 



Like the dovecot pigeon, the goose has been domesti- 

 cated in many countries, but there is general agreement that 

 our ordinary breeds of domesticated geese are descendants 

 of the wild Grey Lag Goose (Anser anser) (Fig. 25) which is 

 common in northern Europe and Asia, though in the former 

 continent its numbers are now much reduced. In Europe the 



