Geese of Europe and Asia 



The ganders are devoid of the osseous or membranous swellings on the larynx 

 peculiar to drakes, as also of a special distinctive breeding dress, so that the plumage in both 

 sexes is of the same colour at all seasons of the year. 



There is no coloured speculum across the wing in the geese of Europe and Asia, 

 but on the wrist-joint there is a prominent subcutaneous bony spine or growth, which, 

 however, in no single species belonging to this group develops into a true spur, as is the case 

 in some of the other genera of geese. 



Moulting in the geese occurs once a year, and begins immediately after they have 

 hatched their young. 1 The flight-feathers fall out all at one time, as in the ducks and 

 swans, making the birds completely incapable of flight for a time. Birds of the year 

 begin moulting during their first autumn, and, prior to this initial moulting, the feathers of 

 the back and shoulders, as also those of the under surface of the body, are much narrower 

 and more pointed than in adult birds. Apparently, during the first autumn and winter, 

 there occurs among the young birds a slow, gradual change of all the small feathers ; 

 but the first shift of the flight-feathers takes place only on reaching the age of one year, 

 i.e. at the time when adult birds moult and change their flight-feathers. The plumage in 

 geese never attains its full development earlier than the third year, and in some species 

 probably much later — in the fifth or sixth. 



The shafts of the primaries and secondaries in all the Palaearctic geese are invari- 

 ably white, but they always darken and become of the same colour as the webs in their 

 terminal part. The tail-coverts, both upper and lower, in all these geese are pure white. 

 Geese have from 12 to 18 tail-feathers, and, in rarer cases, as many as 20. Incubation lasts, 

 according to the scanty data yet available, from 25 to 28 days. 



Geese pair for life, i.e. they are genuine monogamists, and both parents show equal 

 solicitude for their progeny, although the gander does not, as was formerly thought, take part 

 in the brooding. From individual pairs or families of geese (broods) are usually formed 

 considerable flocks, the members of which carry out their wanderings and migrations together. 



Owing to their legs being shifted less backward, and, generally, to a greater length of 

 tarsus, geese are far more agile, walk and run more freely, than ducks, swans, or smews 

 (Mergus). This is undoubtedly connected with their mode of life, since geese pass much 

 more time on land than on the water. 



The voice of the geese is loud, sonorous, and of a different character from that of 

 the ducks, and is very truly expressed by the terms cackle ox gaggle, in contradistinction to 

 the quack of the ducks. 



The chief food of geese consists of all kinds of plants' (especially grasses and water- 

 weeds), their seeds, and sometimes roots ; but a few species, living exclusively on the 

 sea-shores, sometimes also feed on small molluscs and other aquatic animals, this being at 

 once betrayed in the taste of their flesh. There is, however, no doubt that the young in 

 down of the geese feed to a considerable degree on animal food — in the shape of various 

 insects, their larvae, small snails, crustaceans, fish, frog-spawn, etc. 



The geese in general enjoy great longevity ; it is authentically known, for example, 

 that one American species — Leucoblepharon canadensis — lives to a hundred years and more. 

 In France there was lately living a domesticated goose which was 35 years old, and 

 continued till that age to annually lay eggs and hatch her offspring. 2 Certain other species 



1 The males, it is to be noted, begin to moult somewhat sooner than the females. 

 2 I have not been able to ascertain whether this goose is still alive. 



