. Field observations on British birds . any rate, that I was constantly confused,when flighting in the dusk near any of the farms, between the voicesof the tame and the wild birds, mistaking the one for the equally by day, when lunching in one of the farm-byres, acackle might reach me ; on investigation, it sometimes turned outto be a flock of Wild Geese, settling close by, sometimes merely ananimated discussion proceeding from the domesticated birds. I do not propose to occupy much time in this paper in describingthe plumage of these Geese, but I feel compelled to enter rathercarefu
. Field observations on British birds . any rate, that I was constantly confused,when flighting in the dusk near any of the farms, between the voicesof the tame and the wild birds, mistaking the one for the equally by day, when lunching in one of the farm-byres, acackle might reach me ; on investigation, it sometimes turned outto be a flock of Wild Geese, settling close by, sometimes merely ananimated discussion proceeding from the domesticated birds. I do not propose to occupy much time in this paper in describingthe plumage of these Geese, but I feel compelled to enter rathercarefully into the colouring of the soft parts of both species of GreyGeese, since I think almost all plates and most descriptions are quiteinaccurate on these points. The soft parts which require special notice are :—I. The bill, including, of course, the 2. Legs, toes, inter-digital membranes and The eyelids, the narrow circle of naked skin borderingthe eyes. This is frequently coloured and sometimesmarkedly H h4 Grey-lag Goose i77 I had many opportunities of studying the bill of the Grey-lagduring Ufe, for 1 often watched flocks for an hour or more with atelescope at a comparatively short range, hoping that they wouldshift tlieir position off some ridge or high ground, and feed out ofsight so as to give me a chance of a stalk. I also killed a number ofthese Geese, and examined their bills carefully immediately afterdeath. Whether these specimens were male or female, immatureor adult, I found the bill orange-coloured ; the nail a dull white,never so brilliantly white as in a \\hite-front. Immediately abovethe nail, the bill was rosy pink ; this same pink colour was carriedalong the cutting edge of the mandible and round the edges of thenasal opening. For the rest, the bill was orange, rather paler andduller on the upper surface from the forehead to the opening of theiiares, and rather brighter on the lateral surface. The illustration(plate IV, fig. i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectbirdsgr, bookyear1920
