Grey- Lag Goose 35 



ment, this consists in the employment of stronger material for the foundation and lighter 

 stuff for the superstructure. In such a nest the female lays from 4 to 12, and even, as a 

 rare exception, as many as 14 eggs. The older the female the greater the number of eggs 

 in her nest ; but this, of course, applies only to a certain limit of age, which, owing to the 

 extreme longevity of geese in general, it is impossible to determine. 



The following is the table of dimensions and weight drawn up by Mr. Gobel on 

 the basis of 51 eggs of the grey-lag : — 



Max. breadth 65.5 mm. (= 2.57 in.) and 87 mm. length (= 3.42 in.) — weight? (European Russia). 

 Min. „ 53.5 „ (=2.10 „ ) „ 86 „ „ ( = 3.38 „ )— weight 1524 cgm. (Astrakhan). 



Max. length 95.5 „ ( = 3.75 „) „ 63.5 „ breadth ( = 2.50 „) „ 2352 „ (Caspian Sea). 

 Min. „ 79.5 „ ( = 3.12 „) „ 57 „ „ ( = 2.24 „) „ 1620 „ (Turkestan). 



Max. weight 2442 cgm. with 62 mm. breadth ( = 2.44 in.) and 89 mm. length (= 3.50 in.) (Orenburg). 

 Min. „ 1470 „ „ 54 „ „ ( = 2.12 „) „ 82 „ „ (-3- 22 » (Eur. Russia). 



Mean breadth 60.3 mm. (= 2.37 in.) ; max. breadth 65.5 mm. (= 2.57 in.) ; min. breadth 53.5 mm. ( = 2.10 in.). 

 „ length 88.2 „ ( = 347,,); „ length 95.5 „ (=3.75,,); „ length 79.5 „ (=3.12,,). 

 „ weight 2002 cgm.; „ weight 2442 cgm.; „ weight 1470 cgm. 1 



The shell is rather smooth, and the colour white or creamy or sometimes greenish 

 white ; but, on the whole, they are very like the eggs of domestic geese. Radde's state- 

 ment, that the shell is sometimes coarser and rougher, at others smooth, 2 is probably founded 

 on wrongly determined eggs collected by natives. 



According to Severtsov, many grey-lags breed in the Voronezh Government (up to 

 1853) ; they lay in April, the young becoming fledged between July 15 and August 20. 



These dates may be regarded as normal for the whole of the central zone of Russia 

 and Europe generally ; but farther north the later the geese lay — the eggs, for example, 

 in Lapland not being laid till May. 



On the Burani Islands, in the Caspian, eggs were found on April 18, which, 

 according to Dr. Radde, had already been incubated about a week, and consequently must 

 have been laid early in April. In Persia these geese lay still earlier. The time of hatching 

 is usually stated at 28 days. 



It would be interesting to ascertain whether the quantity of down in the nest 

 diminishes as the breeding-grounds approach the south, as has been observed in the case 

 of certain species of ducks. 



It is, however, probable that this is so, since it is evident, for example, that in the 

 case of geese breeding in the north, sometimes in almost winter conditions, when snow lies 

 all round, it is necessary that the eggs should be covered more warmly during the absence of 

 the female from the nest than in more southerly climates. 



Let us now suppose the 27 to 28 days to have passed, and the goslings, covered with 

 short but thick down, to have broken out of the eggs. Although, according to some 

 observers, on leaving the ^gg the goslings still remain in the nest several days 3 before their 

 mother takes them to water, we have grounds for thinking that this is not quite true, and 

 that they take their first bath not later than one day after birth. Again, it may be admitted 



1 Taczanowski gives the dimensions of eggs of the grey-lag from Dauria, as breadth 58-59 mm., length 79.6-89 mm., so that these 

 eggs are much inferior in size to European specimens. 



2 Sibir. Reise, ii. 



8 Thus Vavilov in his Okhota v Rossii^ iv. p. 39 



