GOOSE. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
Anas Anser. A. rostra semicylindrico, corpore supra cinereo 
subtus pallidiore, collo striato. Linn. Syst. Nat. 
Gmel. 1. p. 510. 
Bill semicylindrical ; body ash-coloured above, and 
paler below ; neck striped. 
Anser ferus. Aldr. Orn. 3. p. 147. t. 150. 
151. 
Anser sylvestris. Briss. Av. 6. p. 2 65. no. 2. 
Wild Goose. Alb. Av. 1 . t. Q5. Will. Orn. p. 358. no. 2. pi. 69. 
Gray Lag-goose. Brit. Zool. 2. p. 570. no. 2 66. 
Lath. Syn. 3. p. 459. no. 21. 
Wild geese in general fly very high, and keep in 
flocks from fifty to a hundred : when they migrate 
from one country to another, they marshal them- 
selves in great order, and either form a straight 
line, or an angular figure like the letter V, which 
is as well calculated to preserve the ranks free and 
entire as to break the resistance of the air. The 
chief, who, it is said, occupies the point of the 
angle, retires when he is fatigued to the rear ; and 
the rest by turns take his station. Thus with ad- 
mirable exactness they wing their way, till they 
