The Goose (Anser) forms a special genus among the Palmipedes. It is a bird which is often spoken of with contempt, though very improperly, for few birds are able to afford mankind the amount of service rendered by the despised Goose.
The Wild Goose.
English Synonyms.—Grey Lag Goose: Montagu, Selby. Wild Goose: Jenyns. Marsh Goose, Grey Lag, Grey Goose, Fen Goose.
Latin Synonyms.—Anas anser: Linn., Latham. Anser ferus: Temminck, Jenyns, McGillivray. Anser palustris: Selby. Anser cinereus: Bonaparte.
French Synonym.—Oie Cendrée: Temminck.
The Wild Goose, though by no means elegant in form, has none of the awkwardness of the Domestic Goose, which is generally supposed to be descended from it. The body of Anser ferus is large and full; the neck long, at its upper part slender; the head proportionately small, ovate, oblong, and rather compressed; the feathers of the head are small, short, rounded and blended, of a greyish brown; those of the upper part of the neck small and oblong, and arranged in ridges with deep intervening grooves, gradually getting paler until it fades into greyish white; the wings are long, reaching nearly to the end of the tail, the feathers of the fore part of the back and wings close, broad, and abrupt; the prevailing colour a bluish grey.
The Geese in many respects resemble the Ducks and Swans, but they are less aquatic in their habits, keeping at a distance from large bodies of water, and frequenting, by preference, moist meadows and marshes, where they find herbage and various kinds of seeds, on which they principally feed. They swim very little, and seldom dive. They make their nests on the ground, and lay from six to eight eggs, which are hatched in rather more than one month. The young ones walk about and find their own food almost as soon as they are hatched. Geese, especially the male birds, moult twice a year—in June and November.
The noise made by a flock of Geese seeking their food can be heard at a great distance. Their call, which is repeated at regular intervals, somewhat resembles the sound of a trumpet or clarion, and is accompanied by a continuous muttering noise in shorter notes. The hissing common to both Geese and Ducks is produced by two membranes placed in juxtaposition at the lower part of the trachea. These two membranes are situated side by side in the two bony and elongated openings of the internal larynx, from which the two principal bronchia have their origin. A close examination of this organ in the Goose is supposed to have contributed to the invention of certain wind instruments, such as the flute, bassoon, bagpipes, clarionet, and even the organ.
When attacked, the Goose makes a hissing noise similar to that of some serpents. Endeavours have been made to express this sound by the three Latin words strepit, gratitat, stridet. The slightest noise wakes them up, when they at once give the signal of alarm, which immediately warns the whole flock of approaching danger. Thus, some authors have maintained that the Goose is more vigilant than the Dog; and in proof of this, instance the story of the Geese of the Capitol, whose wakefulness saved the Romans from an attempted assault on the part of the Gauls. The Roman people were grateful enough to award an annual sum for the maintenance of a certain number of Geese in the Capitol; and on the anniversary of the day when their services had been so valuable, they were in the habit of whipping the Dogs in front of the building, as a retrospective punishment for their culpable carelessness.
