Birds The Goose 
level of his back, and seizes his victim firmly with 
his hard-toothed bill so that it cannot get away, and 
then with his strong wings beats the life out of it. 
I remember vividly a whipping which a gander gave 
me when I was a child, holding me fast by my blouse 
while he laid on the blows. 
Geese feed much more largely upon land plants 
than do ducks; a good growth of clover and grass 
make excellent pasture for them; they feed upon 
water plants but do not eat aquatic insects and 
animals to any extent. The goose is long-lived, it 
often being profitably kept until twenty-five years 
old. There are recorded instances of geese having 
reached the age of fifty years, and one authentic 
instance is given of a goose which was the property 
of one family for 101 years, and was then killed by 
the kick of a horse. 
In Europe the geese are driven to market in large 
flocks; there may be several hundreds in a flock, 
and they will remain in good condition if driven eight 
miles per day. 
There are seven varieties of geese used commonly 
as domestic fowls: The Toulouse, which is grey; 
the Embden, which is white; the African, which 
has beak and knob black, the head black and the 
body dark grey; the Brown Chinese, which are 
brown in color, and have the knob and bill dark 
brown or black; the White Chinese, which are white 
with the knob and beak orange; the Egyptian, 
which are gray and black, with purple or bluish red 
beak and orange eyes, set in a chestnut patch; the 
wild, or Canadian geese are also domesticated. 
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