202 BIRDS AND MAN 



were those of a human being, but in their 

 perfection immeasurably superior to anything 

 of the kind to be seen in any Court in Europe 

 or the world. 



The birds he had described, 1 told him, were 

 no doubt Upland Geese. 



" Geese ! " he exclaimed, in a tone of surprise 

 and disgust. " Are you speaking seriously ? 

 Geese ! Oh, no, nothing like geese — a sort of 

 ostrich ! " 



It was plain that he had no accurate know- 

 ledge of birds ; if he had caught sight of a king- 

 fisher or green woodpecker, he would probably 

 have described it as a sort of peacock. Of the 

 goose, he only knew that it is a ridiculous, 

 awkward creature, proverbial for its stupidity, 

 although very good to eat ; and it wounded him 

 to find that any one could think so meanly of 

 his inteUigenoe and taste as to imagine him 

 capable of greatly admiring any bird called a 

 goose, or any bird in any way related to a gqose. 



I wiU now leave the subject of the beautiful 

 antarctic goose, the " bustard " of the horsemen 

 of the pampas, and "sort of ostrich" of our 

 Londoner, to relate a memory of my early 



