Introduction 3 



of wild geese have also lived in captivity from 26 to 30 years, so that, on the whole, there 

 is no ground for scepticism as to their longevity. 



In distinguishing geese, as we shall see in the present work, great importance 

 attaches to the structure, dimensions, and colouring of the bill, and also to the colouring of 

 certain unfeathered parts of the body, such as the eyelids and legs. Often among several 

 nearly related species the form, dimensions, and colouring of the bills are almost the sole 

 certain distinctive characteristics ; although it must be borne in mind that such character- 

 istics must always be treated with extreme caution and attention, or otherwise it is easy to 

 fall into serious mistakes. I will try to explain this in somewhat greater detail. 



In regard to the dimensions of the bills, it must first of all be remembered that 

 geese, as we have already seen, are very long-lived, and at the same time it is absolutely 

 incontestable that with age the bill tends to become continually longer and more 

 massive, so that in very old and large specimens it will considerably exceed in size that 

 of younger, although fully mature, birds of the same species. Once such increase in the 

 dimensions of the bill as a consequence of age is admitted, it is evident that the two or three 

 odd millimetres in excess of the dimensions, which serve as the normal measure for the 

 given species, must not be taken as a sufficient character to assign such exceptional examples 

 to distinct sub-species or races, in the absence of any other more weighty reasons. Such 

 differences in the dimensions will, indeed, only show that the generally accepted standards 

 for the various species have been quoted by ornithologists on the basis of measurements 

 of an insufficient number of individuals, among which, it is quite possible, there did not 

 occur any old or very aged specimens. And, if we refer to collections of skins in various 

 museums, in the majority of cases we shall find the material far from adequate to clear up 

 the question of the normal limits of the size of the bill in all the representatives of each 

 species, — limits the determination of which is extremely desirable. Moreover, for the most 

 part, it is the more youthful and less shy rather than the very old, very wary, and experienced 

 birds that fall into the hands of collectors, so that short-billed specimens are the most 

 common. As a rule, it may be said that skins only in rare cases enable us to judge of the 

 age of geese. All that one can hope for, in examining the majority of collections of skins, is 

 to learn the sex of the bird from the label, and, further, whether the skin belonged to a young 

 or to an adult bird. Sometimes it happens that, among skins of ordinary size {i.e. of the 

 dimensions most frequently met with), there occur specimens the measurements of whose bills 

 far exceed the rest ; but there is no doubt that such examples are nothing more than large, aged 

 representatives of the same species, which, as already said, fall to the gun of the fowler much 

 more seldom than younger birds. The colouring of the bill also plays a very great part in 

 distinguishing different species, or varieties of one and the same species. But here there is 

 need for still greater caution than when determining geese by the structure of the bill, as it 

 must be remembered that in dry skins the colouring of the soft-parts is subject to consider- 

 able changes. Pink, pale or dark flesh-tints alter by fading past recognition, a fact I shall 

 have occasion to speak of in more detail when describing the various species of geese. The 

 intensity in the colouring of rosy bills, as Dr. Sushkin informs me, speaking of the ordinary 

 and lesser white-fronted goose, varies, and, apparently, is connected with the afflux and efflux 

 of blood. Undoubtedly, the same phenomena occur in other species, and particularly in the 

 grey-lag goose. 



Apart from this, even a few hours after the death of the bird, some of the delicate hues, 

 as for example rose or light flesh-tints, become for the most part waxy yellow. In the case 



