the autumn, and is to be seen in numbers on some of our coasts all through the winter. In cold weather it is fairly common on the mainland of Scotland. From autumn to spring it is found in all parts of Ireland, and is the commonest of the inland feeding Geese.
“Very awkward mistakes, and sad ones too some of them, have been made sometimes when these birds have been feeding on the saltings and marshes close to the tide, for at certain seasons the Geese will feed at night and then is the time to go after them. On one occasion a fowler shot his horse by mistake, and at another time a man shot his own son. Such incidents were once only too common. Fowl, feeding at night, bunch themselves up, taking strange shapes, and when alarmed they run before flighting, but they are not very wary, nor have they the keen sight of other wild fowl.”
“Gabble-retchet” is the term applied to the cry of the Geese on flight. An old proverb says: “Its aye fine when the Goose honks (or cries) high.” This in the Eastern States of America has been corrupted into: “It’s aye fine when the goose hangs high,” and is often taken as meaning when there’s plenty in the larder.
This Goose is 34 inches in length. The beak is black, the knob of it being orange-coloured, as is also a broad oblique stripe on the nostrils. The points of the wings when folded extend over the tail. The prevailing colour is brownish-grey; the edges of the feathers and the breast lighter. The flight feathers are dark brown, so are the eyes, legs reddish-brown.
HARMFUL.
