Part 40

The Spoonbill is a migratory bird, building its nest and rearing its young in the north of Europe and Asia, and retiring in autumn to the shores of the Mediterranean or to Africa. It is remarkable not only for the singular conformation of its bill, but for 'being one of the very few which have been found to possess no true muscles of the organ of voice; and no modulation of a single tone appears to be possessed by the bird.'

It builds its nest in high trees, or, when these are wanting, among reeds and rushes; and lays four eggs.

Yarrell's British Birds.

ORDER ANSERES

FAMILY ANATIDÆ

THE GREY LAG GOOSE ANSER CINEREUS

Folded wings not reaching to the extremity of the tail; bill strong, orange-yellow, the nail whitish; upper plumage ash-brown, many of the feathers bordered with greyish white; under plumage, in front, light ash-grey, barred on the flanks and belly with brown, behind pure white; irides deep brown; legs dull flesh-colour. Eggs ivory white. Length two feet ten inches.

The Geese characterized by having a large, ovate body, a long neck, a short and stout beak, high at the base and bent down at the tip, adapted for cropping vegetable food; the wings are large and powerful; the legs, placed under the centre of the body, afford some facility in walking, and the webbed feet are eminently fitted for paddling, but rarely employed in diving. They spend the greater portion of the year in high latitudes, where their arrival is celebrated with great rejoicings, as an indication of returning summer. They are eminently gregarious, flying generally in the form of a half-opened pair of compasses, with the angle in front, or in an irregular wavy line, and uttering a loud harsh cry, which may often be heard some time before the birds themselves are in sight.

The present species, which is supposed by some to be the origin of the domestic Goose, was formerly of common occurrence in Great Britain, but is now much less frequent. It breeds in northern Scotland, coming south from autumn to spring. On their arrival in autumn, they resort to marshes and swamps, meadows, corn-fields, and turnip-fields, especially such as are remote from human dwellings. There they feed by day on such vegetable substances as fall in their way, but they are said to prefer the young shoots of corn to any other kind of food. So wary are they and difficult of approach, that a 'Wild Goose chase' is a proverbial expression for an unsuccessful enterprise. At night they retire to the broad flats near the sea, or to the mouths of rivers, where they roost on the ground. Yarrell is of opinion 'that the term "lag", as applied to this Goose, is either a modification of the English word "lake", the Latin lacus, or perhaps an abbreviation of the Italian "lago", from which latter country it is even probable that we may originally have obtained this our domesticated race.'

THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE ANSER ALBIFRONS

Folded wings reaching a little beyond the tail; bill orange-yellow, the nail white; a large space on the forehead pure white, surrounded by a dusky band; upper plumage ash-brown, varied with grey, dull white, and bluish black; under plumage in front brownish white, with patches and bars of black; behind white; irides dark brown; feet orange. Length two feet three inches. Eggs white, tinged with buff.

A regular visitor to the British Isles, coming late in the autumn to stay till spring, usually seen in small flocks of from eight to twenty birds; it is entirely graminivorous, and, when undisturbed, usually rests at night in any grass-field where it may have been feeding in the afternoon.

Its habits, during its stay in these latitudes, are similar to those of the other species, but it is said by Mr. Selby to 'vary from the Bean Goose in preferring low and marshy districts to the upland and drier haunts of that bird, and in these localities subsists on the aquatic grasses, being very seldom seen to frequent corn or stubble fields'. In Norfolk it has frequently been seen associated with the Bean Goose. It has never been observed to remain with us after April, when it betakes itself to the regions bordering on the Arctic circle. In Lapland it is very abundant, and in the fur countries of North America it was seen in spring by Dr. Richardson in large flocks travelling northwards. It breeds in the woody districts skirting Mackenzie's River, and in the islands of the Arctic Sea.

The white forehead of this bird tends to confirm the opinion maintained by some authors that the common Domestic Goose owes its origin to this species.

THE BEAN GOOSE ANSER SÉGETUM

Folded wings exceeding the tail in length; bill long, orange, the base and nail black; upper plumage ash-brown; the wings darker, edged with greyish white; under plumage in front dirty white, behind pure white; irides dark brown; legs orange; beak yellowish white. Length thirty-four inches. Eggs white.

The several species constituting the group to which the Bean Goose belongs resemble each other very nearly in all respects. All are gregarious, fly high in the form of a V, or in an undulating line, uttering repeated cries, which no one who has heard a domesticated Goose can fail to recognize; they pass the night for the most part on broad flats near the sea, and at early dawn repair inland to their feeding-grounds. The Bean Goose is, on the authority of Yarrell, next to the Brent Goose, the commonest and most numerous as a species among our Wild Geese. In Scotland it is far more abundant than in England, being seen in large flocks from October to April, especially at the periods of migration to and from its summer quarters. But it does not altogether desert the British Isles during the intervening months. A few are said annually to remain, and breed in the lakes of Westmoreland, and in the Hebrides. In Sutherlandshire, also, many remain all the year--a fact thoroughly ascertained by Mr. Selby, who gives an interesting account of several young broods which he saw on the lochs, some of which he captured. They construct their nests among the tussocks of sedge or grass hillocks on the islands, and lay from three to four eggs, smaller than those of the Common Goose, but of a similar shape and colour.

White Fronted Goose

Pink-footed Goose

Grey Lag Goose

Bean Goose

Sheldrake

Shoveler

Gadwall

Wild Duck ]

THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS

Folded wings not reaching to the extremity of the tail; bill shorter than the head, narrow and much contracted towards the tip, pink, with the nail and base black; head and neck reddish brown; rest of the upper plumage ash-grey, edged with greyish white; under plumage in front fawn-colour, behind white; irides dark brown; feet pink, tinged with vermilion. Length two feet four inches. Eggs dull yellowish white.

It is said that most, if not all the various species of wild Geese have strong local attachments; that flocks composed of one particular kind are in the habit of visiting, year after year, the same spot, to the exclusion of other species, which may, nevertheless, be found frequenting places of like character at no great distance. Of the truth of the statement I met with signal confirmation in the severe winter of 1860-1. I then spent several days on the coast of Norfolk, for the purpose of watching the habits of Waders and sea-fowl. Without indulging in the chase of wild Geese, I heard and saw a great many flocks, of which some were unmistakably Brent Geese; others, of a larger size and a different colour, I was obliged to include under the comprehensive name of Grey Geese. The Brents, I found, regularly repaired to the salt marshes adjoining Thornham Harbour, which, I was told, was their usual place of resort. The others were known to alight only in the meadows near Holkham. Having heard that several had been shot at the latter place, I procured one, and on examination it proved to be the present species, up to that time entirely unknown to me. On consulting Yarrell, I found the following passage:--'In January of the present year, 1841, I was favoured with a letter from the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Keppel, of Warham Rectory, near Holkam, informing me that a Pink-footed Goose had been killed by his nephew, Lord Coke, at Holkam. This bird was shot out of a flock of about twenty, but nothing particular was observed in their flight or habits.' The bird brought to me had been shot, along with many others, out of similar flocks, in exactly the same place, at an interval of twenty years; and I have no doubt that the many other specimens which have been shot there between the above two dates, belonged to the same species, the characters which distinguish it from the common Bean Goose being not sufficiently striking to attract the notice of sea-side gunners. The habits of the species appear not to differ from those of its congener; it arrives and departs about the same time, and it frequents the marshes and uplands of Norfolk, and in winter the east coast of Scotland.