GOOSE, rinser, a genus of web-footed birds, one of the sections of the Unman genus anas (q.v.), having the bill not longer than the head, more high than broad at the base, the upper mandible slightly hooked at the tip; the legs placed further forward than in ducks, and so better adapted for walking; the neck of moderate length, with 16 verte brae, a character which widely distinguishes them from swans. In general, geese spend more of their time on land than any other of the anaticice, feeding on grass and other herbage, berries, seeds, and other vegetable food. Although large birds, and of bulky form, they have great powers df flight. They strike with their wings in fight ing, and there is a hard callous knob or tubercle at the end of the wing, which in some species becomes a spur. The DOMESTIC GOOSE is regarded as deriving its origin from the GRAY LAG GOOSE or COMMON WILD GOOSE (A. ferns); but all the species seem very capable of domestication, and several of them have been to some extent domesticated. The gray lag goose is almost 3 ft. in length from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the short tail. Its extent of wing is about 5 feet. The wings do not leach to the extremity of the tail. The weight of the largest birds is about 10 pounds. The color of the plumage is gray, varying in some parts to grayish brown; the rump and belly white, the tail grayish brown and white; the bill is orange, the nail at the tip of the upper mandible white. 'The young are darker than the adults. The gray lag goose is common in some parts of the center and s. of Europe, also in many parts of Asia, and in the n. of Africa, but it is not known in America. It is a bird of temperate rather than of cold climates. In seine countries, it is found at all seasons of the year, but it deserts its most northern haunts in severe weather, migrating southward; its flocks, like those of others of this genus, flying at a great height, beyond the reach of shot, except of the one bird always leading the flock, the rest sometimes fol lowing in a single line, but more generally in two lines converging to the leading bird. The gray lag goose was formerly abundant in the fenny parts of England, and resided there all the year, but the drainage of the fens has made it now a rare bird, and only known as a winter visitant in the British islands. It frequents bays of the sea and estuaries as well as inland waters, and often leaves the waters to visit moors, meadows, and cultivated fields, generally preferring an open country, or taking its place, as remote as possible from danger, in the middle of a field. These excursions
are often made by night, and no small mischief is often done by a flock of hungry geese to a field of newly-sprung wheat or other crop. At the breeding-season, the winter-flocks of wild geese break up into pairs; the nests are made in moors or on tussocks in' marshes; the eggs vary in number from 5 to 8 or rarely 12 or 14; they are of a dull white color, fully 3 in. long, and 2 in. in diameter.
Although the common goose has been long domesticated. and it was probably among the very first of domesticated birds, the varieties do not differ widely from each other. Emden geese are remarkable for their perfect whiteness; Toulouse geese, for their large size. As a domesticated bird, the goose is of great value,, both for,-tho table, and on account of its quills, and of the fine soft feathers. The quills supplied all Europe with pens before steel pens were invented, and have not ceased to be in great demand. Geese must have free access to water, and when this is the case, they are easily reared, and rendered profitable. Two broods are sometimes produced in a season, 10 or 11 in a brood, and the. young geese are ready for the table in three months after they leave the shell. They live, if permitted, to a great age. Willoughby records an instance of one that reached the age of SO years, and was killed at last for its mischievousness. Great flocks of geese are kept in some places in England, particularly in Lincoln shire, and regularly plucked five times a year for feathers and quills. Geese intended for the table are commonly shut up for a few weeks, and fattened before being killed. Great numbers are imported from Holland and Germany for the London market, and fattened in England in establishments entirely devoted to this purpose. are du esteemed delicacy. The gizzards. heads, and legs of geese are also sold in sets, under the name of giblets, to be used for pies. The livers of geese have long been in request among epicures; but the de foie d'oie, or Mte de foie gran of Strasburg, is made from livers in a state of morbid enlargement, caused by keeping the geese in an apartment of very high temperature. Large goose-livers were a favorite delicacy of the ancient Roman epicures.