Anas anser ferus, LINNÆUS; L'Oie sauvage, BUFFON; Der wilde
Gans, BECHSTEIN.
This is the parent stock of our domestic goose, and though smaller, it
has a longer neck and larger wings. The upper part of the body is
brownish grey, the under part is greyish white; the breast is clouded
with rusty brown; the beak is orange and black; the feet are red.
Several domestic geese preserve this original plumage, even to the
colours of the beak.
OBSERVATIONS.--This species frequents the shores of the North Sea
during the summer; but in autumn departs in large flights disposed in
a triangular form, and passes the winter in more southern countries,
feeding on the blades of newly-sprung rye.
There are places in Thuringia where thousands of these birds collect
in winter; they are very distrustful, placing sentinels as soon as
they alight, which are so watchful, that it is very difficult to take
or shoot them. If by chance the wing of one of these geese is shot,
it may easily be kept in the yard with poultry; they are also taken
in snares laid in places frequented by them during the night; they
associate without difficulty with the domestic geese; but I only know
one instance of a wild male pairing with a domesticated female.