AVES— WILD GOOSE. ...SWAN. 663 



THE EUROPEAN WILD GOOSE. i 



The wild goose, or gray lag, always retains the same marks : the whole 

 upper part is ash colored ; the breast and belly are of a dirty white ; the bill 

 is narrow at the base, and at the tip it is black ; the legs are of a saffron 

 color, and the claws black. It frequently weighs about ten pounds. 



The wild goose is supposed to breed in the northern parts of Europe, and, 

 in the beginning of winter, to descend into more temperate regions. If they 

 come to the ground by day, they range themselves in a line, like cranes ; 

 and seem rather to have descended for rest, than for other refreshment. 

 When they have sat in this manner for an hour or two, we have heard one 

 of them, with a loud, long note, sound a kind of charge, to which the rest 

 punctually attended, and they pursued their journey with renewed alacrity. 

 Their flight is very regularly arranged; they either go in a line abreast, or in 

 two lines, joining in an angle in the middle. 



The common tame goose is nothing more than this goose in a state of 

 domestication. The tame goose is sometimes white, and generally varies 

 between white and gray. 



There are also the barnacle goose,^ the brant goose,^ the bear goose,"* and 

 a variety of others. 



THE SWAN. 5 



So much difference is there between this bird, when on land and in the 

 water, that it is hardly to be supposed the same, for in the latter, no bird can 

 possibly exceed it for beauty and majestic appearance. When it ascends 

 from its favorite element, its motions are awkward, and its neck is stretched 

 forward with an air of stupidity ; it has, indeed, the air of being only a 

 larger sort of goose ; but when seen smoothly gliding along the water, dis- 

 plays a thousand graceful attitudes, and moving at pleasure without the 

 smallest apparent effort, there is not a more beautiful figure in all nature. 

 In its form, we find no broken or harsh lines ; in its motions, nothing con- 

 strained or abrupt, but the roundest contours, and the easiest transitions ; 

 the eye wanders over the whole with unalloyed pleasure, and, with every 

 change of position, every part assumes a new grace. It will swim faster 

 than a man can walk. 



This bird has long been rendered domestic ; and it is now doubtful whe- 

 ther there be any of the tame kind in a state of nature. The color of the tame 

 swan is entirely white, and it generally weighs full twenty pounds. Under 



^ Anas anser, Lin. , '^ Anas leucopsis, Temm. ^ Anas hcrnicla, Lin. 



*Anas segctum, Gmel. s Anas olor, Lin. 



