38 Geese of Europe and Asia 



at once wake the whole flock with a loud cry of warning, and in an instant fly up into 

 the air. . . . 



" After a doze of an hour or two, long before dawn the geese on guard wake their 

 sleeping companions, and again the whole flock flies off to the favourite field, where it 

 remains till early morning. Having taken their fill, the geese now fly to another lake, 

 where they pass the day. In the evening they again fly to the field, and so on till their 

 departure/' 



This description gives a perfectly true general picture of the life of grey-lags until 

 they leave for winter quarters, and I have only to complete it by a few details. Thus, for 

 example, in some cases great rivers with extensive shoals along their banks take the place 

 of the lakes mentioned by Vavilov ; and, as regards food, this is considerably more various 

 than is allowed by that observer. Geese feed, indeed, on the grain of wheat, rye, and maize, 

 as well as on chaff or husks, peas, beans, and lentils ; but green fields of rye form their 

 favourite food. In the south the grey-lag visits the paddy-fields, which offer such attractive 

 feeding-grounds for many waterfowl and for different waders, on account of the abundance 

 of animal food. 



According to some authors, geese do not relish vetches, which are reputed to be 

 harmful to them. Acorns they consume very eagerly, and they are also not averse to feed 

 on all kinds of kitchen -garden plants, and in particular their juicy roots. They eat 

 turnips and potatoes. Young goslings are very fond of water-weeds, such as Lemna, 

 Festuca fiuitans, etc., while on the seashore when wintering grey -lag readily devour 

 Zostera maritima, the favourite food of all geese and ducks. Undoubtedly, young goslings 

 eagerly swallow all kinds of insects, leeches, and small crustaceans that fall in their way. 



Sitting on the water, geese obtain food from a small depth either by immersing the 

 whole neck or the fore part of the body, taking up a position perpendicular to the surface 

 of the water, after the fashion of surface-feeding ducks, so that only the hind half of the 

 body and the tail is exposed. Very often, to facilitate digestion, they fill their crops with 

 coarse sand, and even with black earth. The droppings of grey-lag geese are very hot, and 

 dry up the grass for a considerable distance around. These droppings and the scorched 

 grass often betray the feeding-grounds of the geese to the fowler. 



As winter approaches, little by little the geese begin to move south, with the exception, 

 of course, of resident birds, which never change their abode. 



The flight of geese is either continuous and uninterrupted, or gradual, with more or 

 less prolonged halts at convenient feeding-grounds. In general the autumn movement from 

 cold to warm countries is much slower than the spring flight, effected as a rule rapidly, 

 often without stopping, till the breeding-grounds are reached. 



Before noticing the grey-lag's winter quarters, a few words may be devoted to its 

 cries. The goose's cackle is more or less well known to all, but only the fowler who has 

 seen and shot many of these birds is able to distinguish with certainty one goose from 

 another by its cry alone. As to the question whether it is possible to express these different 

 cackles on paper, since I have already more than once denied this in my Utki Rossii, I 

 must again do so here. In confirmation of the impossibility of representing the goose's 

 call by letters, I cite the following example. Personally I hold that the grey-lag utters on 

 the wing the sounds gaga-gaga-gaga, just as is done by the bean-goose [Melanonyx arvensis) ; 

 but English authors often express these sounds as houk-hoitk, the Germans as kaahkakak, 

 kahkak, kakakahkak. Which is right ? Of course all depends here on the intonation and 



