﻿ANATID.E. 



NATATORES. ANATW/K. 



PLATE CCXXVIL 



GREY LAG WILD GOOSE. 



ANSER PALUSTRIS. 



The Grey Lag Wild Goose is at present only a winter 

 visitant in Great Britain, its occurrence being more rare than 

 formerly, in consequence of the increase of cultivation and 

 population. According to former ornithologists it not only 

 visited us periodically, but was even numerous in the fenny 

 districts of Lincolnshire and the neighbouring counties, and 

 some pairs remained annually to breed. This species is 

 distributed over Europe, Asia, and Africa, but does not seem 

 to extend further north than the sixty-third degree of north 

 latitude. In Europe it is generally distributed over the 

 central and eastern countries, such as the coast of Norway, 

 parts of Sweden, the more temperate provinces of Russia, 

 and the borders of the Baltic. In Pomerania it is rather 

 more plentiful ; and occurs in many parts of Prussia, Po- 

 land. Silesia, and Saxony. In Holland, France, and Swit- 

 zerland, it is rarely met with. In Asia it visits the temperate 

 parts of Siberia during the summer months, and during the 

 winter the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, Persia, and 

 the Dead Sea. In Africa it only visits the north and north- 

 western parts. 



