Weight.—The standard weight of the adult gander is 14 pounds; adult goose, 12 pounds; young gander, 10 pounds, and young goose, 8 pounds.
GRAY WILD GEESE.
History.—Gray Wild geese ([fig. 33]) are among the best known of domestic geese, and are very generally bred throughout the entire country. They are among the most valuable and practical birds for goose raising, and are prized very highly for table purposes, besides being good layers, hardy, and easy to rear.
Fig. 33.—Gray wild goose.
Description.—These geese have a rather small head, small bill, sharp at the point, and long, slender neck, snaky in appearance. The back is long and rather narrow, and is arched from neck to tail; breast, full and deep, and body long and somewhat slender. The wings are long, large, and powerful, and the thighs are rather short. The head of the Wild goose is black, with a white stripe nearly covering the side of the face; bill, black; neck, black; and back, dark gray.
The breast is light gray, which grows darker as it approaches the legs; the plumage of the underparts of the body from the legs to the tail is white.
The wings are dark gray; primaries dusky black, showing only a dark-gray color when the wing is folded; secondaries are brown, but of a lighter shade than the primaries. The tail feathers are glossy black, and the thighs are gray. The shanks, toes, and webs are black. The eyes are black.