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Show DOMESTIC GOOSE. CIIAP. VIII. 288 . . 23 Yarrell24 has observed that 1849, perfectly fert1le offsprmg. t' oso is sometimes tho lower part of t h e t m. e1 l ea of the domes JC go t'mes surrounds · f hite feathers some 1 flattened, and that a rmg 0 w · t first good indi-b l Th characters seem a the base of tho caL ese . d 'tll the white-fronted ~ ·mer peno Wl . cations of a cro s at some 01 . . ·s variable in this ~.;. ) b t the wh1te rmg 1 goose (.A. alb~J rons i u 1 1 tlle law of analogous latter spe01.e s, anc1 we mu st n. ot over o. o \: some ofthe characters variation ; that is, of one speCies assummg of a1liecl species. . i-1 'ble in its organization under As the goose ha.s proved so m exl t f variation which · t' the amoun o < long-continued domestlca 10~'. It h 1·ncreased in size and can be detccte d 1· s wor· th g1v.1 t1g · ahs' t to <a dusky colour. · 25 d vanes from w 1 e in productiveness; an bat the gander is more fro- Several observers ~a have stated t d that when old it almost quently white than the goose, ahi~ . ot the case with the . h 'te . but t s IS n invanably becomes w 1 ' . the law of analogous ] .A .f 8 Here a.gam, parent-form, t 10 · J eru ·. 1 ' the snow-white male of · · ha o come mto P ay, as vanatwn may 'v t. ) tanding on the sea-shore the Rock-Goose (Bernicla antarc zcallsl< to all those who · 'ght we mown by his dusky partner 1 ~ a ; 1 T. del Fueo·o and the Falkland have traversed the soun so lekrrat d +bhe skull beneath as S have top no s ; an ~ ' Islands. om.e geese -breed has lately been formed before stated, lS perfora~c~ ~ tS:: back of the head and neck.27 with the feathers reverse a d . f a yellower tint than The beak varies a little in size, an lS o f h 1 cr • . 'ld s ecies. but its colour and that o t e ebs are m the :vi P .. ble 28 This latter fact deserves attention, both shghtly lvai~a f ~ho legs and beak is highly serviceable because the co om 0 . · i £ 20 At ur in discriminating the several closely allied wile orms. o 23 See 11]80 Hunter's 'Ess11ys,' edited by Owen, vol. ii. p. 322. , ... 24 Yarrell's 'British Birds, vol. 111. P· l 42. He refers to tho Laplanders domcsticat;ng tho goose. 25 L. Lloyd, 'Scandinavian Adventures,' 1854, vol. ii. p. 413, says ~hat tho wild goose lays from fivo to C1ght eggs, which is a much few~r number than thl1t laid by our domcstte goose. ~G 'fbe Rev. L. Jcnyns seems first to have made this o"!Jservation in his 'British Animals.' See 11iso Yarrcll, and Dixon in his ' Ornamental Pou.ltry: (p. 139), and 'Gardener's Chromcle, 1857, p. 45. . . 27 Mr. Bartlett exh1b1ted the bead and neck of a bird thus characterised at the Zoologic11l Soc., Feb. 1860. . 28 W. Thompson,, NaturalHJst. oflrc· land,' 1851, vol. iii. p. 31. The ~cv. E. S. Dixon gftve me some informatwn on the varying colour of the be~k ~nd legs. 29 Mr. A. Strickland, m Annals ~?,d Mag. of N~t. IIist.,' 3rd series, vol. JJJ., 18Ml, p. 122. CuAP. vm. DOMESTIC GOOSE. 289 Shows two breeds are exhibited; viz. the Embden and Toulouse; but they differ in nothing except colour.30 Recently a smaller and singular variety has been imported from Sebastopol/1 with the scapular feathers (as I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, who sent me specimens) greatly elongated, curled, and even ·spirally twisted. The margins of these feathers are rendered plumose by the divergence of the barbs and barbules, so that they 1·esemble in some degree those on the back of the black Australian swan. These feathers are likewise remarkable from the central shaft, which is excessively thin and transparent, being split into :fine :filaments, which, after running for a space free, sometimes coalesce again. It is a curious fact that these :filaments are regularly clothed on each side with :fine down or barbules, precisely like those on the proper bm·bs of the feather. This structure of the feathers is transmitted to halfbred birds. In Gallus sonneratii the barbs and barbules blend together, and form thin horny plates of the same nature with the shaft: in this variety of the goose, the shaft divides into filaments which acquire barbules, and thus resemble true barbs. Although the domestic goose certainly differs somewhat from any known wild speci.es, yet the amount of variation which it has undergone, as compared with most domesticated animals, is singularly small. This fact ca.n be partially accounted for by selection not having come largely into play. Birds of allldnds which present many distinct races are valued as pets or ornaments; no one makes a pet of the goose; the name, indeed, in more languages than one, is a term of reproach. The goose is valued for its size and flavour, for the whiteness of its feathers which adds to their value, and for its prolificness and tameness. In all these points the goose differs from the wild parent-form; and these are th~ points which have been selected. Even in ancient times the Roman gourmands valued the liver of the wh-ite goose; and Pierre Belon 32 in 1555 speaks of two varieties, one of which was larger, more fecund, and of a better colour than the other; and he expressly states that good managers 30 'Poultry Chronicle,' vol. i., 1854, p. 498 ; vol. iii. p. 210. 31 ' The Cottage Gardener,' Sept. 4th, 1860, p. 348. 32 'L'Hist. dclaNaturedesOiseaux,' VOL. I. par P. Belon, 1555, p. 156. With r~spcct to the livers of white geese being preferred by the Romans, see Isid. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 'Hist. Nat. Gen.,' tom. iii. p. 58. u |