THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE 177 
but that men, nearly six thousand years ago, must 
have kept rare birds in captivity for the pleasure of 
their beauty, and that artists went to their zoological 
gardens or collections, and drew pictures of the 
inhabitants of far-distant climes for the walls of 
their temples or tombs. As a realistic study of 
bird-life this little picture is admirable, the set of 
the head and peculiar curve of the Feeding Geese 
is singularly true, whilst the whole is carried 
through in a broad decorative spirit. It is curious 
that in a country where the earliest art took subjects 
from Nature, there should now be such absolute 
apathy that in many cases the people have no 
separate names for the birds around them. Egypt 
has other geese that visit it, but none others native 
to it. The White-fronted Goose is said to be the 
most abundant of all, the Brent Goose and the 
Bean Goose, all three visiting the Nile and Delta 
in the winter months. 
