316 
THE POULTRY BOOK. 
especially whilst young. This arises from the patches where the dark feathers 
grew, showing even after being carefully plucked, more particularly if the plumage 
at the time they are killed happens to be immature. Although when roasted no 
difference is perceptible, yet a clear- skinned bird always commands the most ready 
sale at the poulterer’s.” 
In weight, these two celebrated varieties run very close together. The diligent 
and careful attention that has been paid of late years to the improvement of poultry, 
has resulted in a great increase in the size and weight of geese. At the last March 
show, 1866, the heaviest pair exhibited were the old Grey geese, the first prize 
pair of which weighed 59 J lbs; the first prize old white geese being 57^ lbs. A 
few years since, the rearing of a pair of geese, of any age or variety, that would 
weigh over half a hundred-weight, would have been regarded as a feat of impossible 
attainment ; this limit has now been surpassed, and we have no more to believe 
that the oie plus ultra has been reached. 
The first prize young birds of the year, at the same show, weighed between 
42 lbs. and 43 lbs., in both the white and grey classes. 
Among the most singular variations of plumage occurring in the domestic geese, 
may be mentioned that found in the so-called Sebastopol geese, figured at the 
commencement of this chapter. These geese were first exhibited by Mr. Harvey 
D. Bayly, in 1860, and were delineated and described in the Illustrated London 
News, of Sept. 8. The following was the account that was published respecting 
them on their first introduction : — 
Amongst the geese there were two curious specimens from Sebastopol, exhi- 
bited by Mr. T. H. D. Bayly. These birds are somewhat smaller than those of 
this country at a mature size, but they are of the purest white and the most 
perfect form, whilst the more conspicuous portion of their plumage is of a 
curly nature, affording a very striking contrast to the feathers of the ordinary 
English goose. The feathers on the back are curved and frilled upwards ; the 
secondary feathers of the wings are elongated and twisted, also the tail coverts. 
These geese were sent to Mr. Bayly by John Harvey, Esq., who had been cruising 
in the Black Sea. Their weight is 11 lbs. each. They are of precisely the same 
habits as our English geese.” 
The great peculiarity in these geese consists in the extreme elongation of the 
feathers of the back (scapulars and tail coverts). The shafts of these long feathers 
split down their entire length, and then become twisted, so as to give rise to the 
peculiar curled appearance shown in the wood-cut. Since their first introduction 
these geese have propagated very freely, and are now constantly to be seen in 
the various poultry shows. As combining the ornamental and the useful, these 
quaint birds have few superiors. 
The different varieties of geese must not be passed over without allusion to a 
very distinct species — the Chinese, also known as the Hong-kong, Knob-fronted, 
and occasionally as Spanish geese. These birds are so distinct in their form 
and habits, that Cuvier arranged them with the swans, and gave the species the 
