266 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS. 



collection, his companion hoists him up by main force, twisting 

 the cord round his own body after the manner of a windlass. 



This aerial and dangerous sport is very productive. A cow- 

 hide rope forms a large portion of the dowry of a St. Kilda girl, 

 and very often it is the sole dependence of a household. The 

 hardy sportsmen have so much coolness and nerve, that accidents 

 very rarely happen. 



The Bean Goose (A^ias segetuni) of most authors diii'ers from 

 the preceding in being somewhat smaller, and having the bill more 

 slender, although not much shorter ; the hind part of the back is 

 also dark brown. In its habits it closely resembles the Wild 

 Goose, for which it has probably been frequently mistaken. Vast 

 flocks of this species frequent the northern waters, such as 

 Montrose Bay, the mouth of the Findhorn, and especially the 

 inland waters of Ross and Sutherland — thirty or forty pairs 

 having their nests annually on Lake Laighal. 



The Domestic or Common Goose {An&er sijhestris) has been 

 made the source of great utility and profit. It appears to be the 

 civilised offspring of the Wild Goose, to which it bears the same 

 proportions as other tame animals bear to their prototypes. Mr. 

 Yarrell was of opinion that the White-fronted Goose {Ajiser alhi' 

 frons) has concurred, with the Anser ferus, in producing our 

 domestic race. 



In our poultry-j^ards the Domestic Goose begins, in the month 

 of March, to lajr from eight to twelve eggs. When they remain 

 on the nest longer than usual, tliey are about to " sit." Incuba- 

 tion lasts for a month. ISTo birds are more easily reared than 

 goslings ; they issue from the shell full of life, and covered with 

 a delicate down. It is, however, necessary to keep them shut up 

 for the first few daj's ; if the weather permits, they maj^ soon be 

 released. Their first food is a paste formed of barley roughly 

 ground, mixed with bran, moistened, and boiled in milk, with the 

 addition of a few chopped-up lettuce leaves. When at large, it is 

 necessary to keep them carefully from hemlock and other poisonous 

 plants. 



Our ancestors, the Celts, the Gauls, and the Franks, reared a 

 large number of these birds, and carried on a considerable trade in 

 them, especially with Italy. Pliny, in his " Natural History," 



