72 POULTRY BREEDING 
markably good foragers and range the fields in search 
of bugs and worms from morning until night. 
Geese.—The American Poultry Association recognizes 
six distinct breeds of geese as follows: Toulouse, Emb- 
den, African, Chinese, two varieties—Gray and White; 
Wild or Canadian and Egyptian. While there are several 
distinct breeds of wild geese, it is probable that all do- 
mestic geese are descended from one variety, the great 
lag goose (Anser cinereus), which has a natural range 
from western Europe to northern India, and is of the 
same color as the common gray goose of the farmyards 
of Europe and America. Crosses with this wild breed 
are fertile, which is not the case with other wild breeds. 
The goose has been known as a domestic fowl for at 
least 4,000 years, as it is figured freely on Egyptian monu- 
ments and temples. It is mentioned in ancient literature 
as any other everyday matter. No class of domestic 
fowls has changed less from the original wild state than 
the goose. In color and shape it still carries the sober 
gray of nature, and the most ancient drawings show it 
to have been practically of the same shape in ancient 
times as it is now. The exceptions are the snow-white 
Embdens, but it must be remembered that the original 
wild goose had considerable white on it, and the domestic 
geese of all ages have exhibited a tendency to become 
pied or parti-colored, so it would not be very hard to 
breed them pure white by selecting those with most white 
in their plumage for a few generations. 
The goose is the only one of our domestic fowls that 
is entirely vegetarian in its habits. It is the most cleanly 
of all our domestic poultry in its selection of feed, and 
has all through the course of history held a high position 
in the dietetics of all people. 
