GEESE, a large group of water-birds al lied to the ducks and swans, and forming with them the family Anatidee. It is not possible to separate geese and ducks into two well-defined groups. Generally speaking, however, geese are distinguished by their larger size; short, heavy bill, with reduced lamellae; longer legs, placed nearer the centre of the body; and the absence of enlargements of the bronchial tubes. They are better walkers than ducks; the sexes are generally alike in plumage, which undergoes only one moult a year ; and both parents attend to the young. They are long-lived, cases having been known when they attained the age of 40. Some 30 species of true geese exist, and about a dozen others are usually known by that name. Males are called and young birds "goslings." The most typical geese are those of the genus Anser, represented in Europe by the gray lag (A. cinereus), bean goose (A. segetum) and white-fronted goose (A. albifrons). A variety of the last occurs also in North America. The gray-lag goose is the original of the domestic races of geese. In its wild state it ranges over nearly the whole of Europe and northern Asia, and was formerly an abundant breeder on the British Isles.
The best-known wild geese in America are the Canada goose (Branca canadenis), the brant (B. bernicla) and the snow-goose (Chen hyperboreus). The first-named presents several varieties differing mainly in size, the Hutchin's and cackling goose of the West being not larger than big ducks. One form or another . occurs all across the continent, breeding mainly north of the United States, migrating south ward in the autumn and wintering on the coasts and inland waters, where they are regu larly hunted by sportsmen. In early spring the northward flight of these geese in their customary V-shaped rank is heralded as an in dication that winter is over. The brent goose or brant is a smaller, darker bird, breeding far northward and occurring along our coasts often in immense numbers during the winter and also on the coasts of Europe, being everywhere a salt-water bird. The black brant of our western coast and the bernicle goose (q.v.) of the north of Europe are allied species. Several species of snow-geese, or laughing are found in America, most plentiful in the in terior. Most of them are pure white in the adult state, more or less gray during the first year; but the blue goose (Chen ccerulescens) is always bluish gray, with the head white in the adult.
In Patagonia and the adjacent islands are several peculiar geese in which the sexes differ i totally in coloration, the males being white and the females brown; some of them are strictly upland birds. The largest known goose is the Chinese swan-goose (Cygnopsis cygnoides), which is supposed to be the parent stock of the domestic geese of some Eastern countries. The peculiar Cape Barren goose of Australia (Cere opsis nove-hollandice), an upland goose which has lost the power of flight, has the webbing of the toes greatly reduced and the bill very short and rounded. Another curious species is the spur-winged goose of Africa (Plectropterus rueppelli) which possesses hornlike weapons on the bend of the wing. This is a beautiful bird bred in captivity by fanciers for ornamental service.
Domestic Geese.— The breeding of geese is followed on a large scale in some countries and was formerly extensively carried on in parts of England, where the flocks were regularly tended by a gooseherd aid driven daily to pasture and water. Two broods are sometimes produced in
a season. 10 or 11 in a brood, and the young geese are ready for table three months after they leave the shell. Until the invention of the steel pen, goose quills were used for this purpose. Geese are valuable not only for their flesh and eggs, but for the plumage and where kept for the latter purpose are plucked four or five times a year. The feathers are used chiefly for stuffing pillows, etc.; but as a result of public sentiment against the use of the plumage of wild birds in millinery, the manu facture of artificial plumes and feather-orna ments for hats is becoming an important in ._ dustry and goose-feathers form the basis of most of these fabrications. Geese are often specially fattened for the table, the flesh of which is 82 per cent edible and 18 per cent refuse. The liver of a fat goose is often larger than all the other viscera. The celebrated pâtés de foie gras of Strassburg are made of goose livers, which are brought to a state of abnormal enlargement by keeping the birds in an apart ment with a high temperature and cramming them with food. The oily fat and preserved breasts of geese are German delicacies. Six standard varieties of domestic geese are kept in the United States, for practical purposes, as follows: Gray Toulouse.— Derived from the neigh borhood of Toulouse, France ; compact in form ; gray, with brown wing-quills, hazel eyes and bills and feet deep orange; full weight, 20 pounds. They are late in maturing and hence are often called Christmas geese; their flesh is not of the best, but they are good egg-layers. They are bred largely by farmers.
White Embden.— Large, tall, snow-white geese derived from Westphalia, weighing 18 to 20 pounds when adult; eyes blue, bills flesh color; feet deep orange. They are highly re garded by farmers as practical birds.
Gray African.—Tall, with long necks and large heads, a large knob on the base of the bill and a heavy dewlap,- general color gray, darkest on the back; eyes hazel; bill black; feet dark orange; weight, 18 to 20 pounds. These are by many raisers considered the most profitable of all geese to keep. They grow the heaviest in the shortest space of time, are ready for market in 10 weeks and as compared with other geese give the most satisfactory returns for the least labor and time spent in growing them. They are first-class layers and their flesh is fine and nicely flavored.
Chinese Geese.— Small graceful geese in two varieties, brown and white, weighing as adult 12 to 14 pounds. In colors and the shape of the head and knobbed bill they resemble the African breed; the white variety is pure white throughout, with the bill orange instead of black. They are the most prolific layers of all the breeds, averaging 50 to 60 eggs a year; and are otherwise commendable, especially for the table.
Wild Geese.— Descendants of the American wild goose; weight 14 to 16 pounds. They are very generally bred throughout the country and exhibit many good qualities.
Consult Weir,