People who are not familiar with animals often get wrong ideas of the characters of certain creatures from the popular metaphorical use of their names. Perhaps those who first applied these metaphors understood them correctly, but after long use by people acquainted with the metaphor but not familiar with the animal to which it relates, a part of the meaning is likely to be lost. This is what has happened to the term "goose" as applied to a person. When one acts stupidly foolish about some little thing he is often called a goose. Most people, associating the idea of stupidity with the name of the goose, suppose that geese are very stupid and uninteresting. If you will notice how the term "goose" is commonly applied to persons, you will discover that it is very rarely used except to apply to a person for whom the speaker has a great deal of affection. Under the same circumstances others are more likely to be designated by some harsher term. The most marked characteristic of a goose is not stupidity but an affectionate disposition. The ancient Egyptians noted this, and in their hieroglyphic writing a goose stood for "son." The goose is a very intelligent and interesting bird. It is of a most social nature and becomes very much attached not only to its mates but to other animals and to people. No domestic animal except the dog develops so much affection for its master as a goose will if it is permitted to do so. But, while interesting in some ways, the goose has so little of the other qualities which lead man to make a companion and pet of an animal, that its devotion is not usually encouraged. Commercially geese and ducks belong to the same class and are used in the same way (the goose being preferred where size is desired), but in some points of character, structure, and habits they are quite different.

Description. In general appearance a goose resembles a duck so closely that people not familiar with both often mistake large white ducks for geese, but no one that knows either kind well is likely to make mistakes in the identity of any of the common varieties. While many of the small domestic geese are no heavier than the largest ducks, geese are on the average more than twice as large as ducks. Their legs are longer and much stronger. Their bills are larger at the juncture with the head and smaller and more pointed at the tip. While ducks are usually very timid, geese are bold, and this makes a marked difference in their attitude when approached and also in the carriage of their bodies. They are very strong birds, quite able to defend themselves against the attacks of small animals and from annoyance by children. Indeed, they are very likely to take an aggressive attitude toward persons or animals that they regard as trespassers, and a large gander when angry is a dangerous customer. A blow from his wing might knock a child down or even break a small child's arm.

Fig. 140. Emden Geese

There are no regular distinguishing marks of sex in geese. The males average larger than the females, but the difference is slight and some females may be larger than some males of the same breeding. In some foreign varieties, not known in this country, the males are mostly of one color and the females of another, but as there are exceptions to this rule, it is not reliable. In those varieties which have a knob on the bill this is likely to be more prominent in the males. There is nothing in the form of the plumage to distinguish the male, like the little curl in the tail of the drake. The voices of males and females are so nearly alike that, while a difference may sometimes be noted in the voices of birds known to be of different sexes, the voice is not a plain indication of the sex. There are some males so distinctly masculine, and some females so distinctly feminine, in appearance and behavior, that a person familiar with geese will not often make a mistake in identifying the sex by the general appearance. There are others about which the most expert goose breeder is in doubt until the laying season arrives and the production or nonproduction of eggs shows without doubt which birds are females and which are males.

Fig. 141. Toulouse Geese

The name goose is applied to either male or female without reference to sex, and also to the female as distinguished from the male. The male is called a gander. The young are called goslings. Goose and gander are the modern forms of Anglo-Saxon names.

Origin. Our fully domesticated geese all originated in the Old World. The European stock is believed to be derived from the Gray Lag Goose, which is still found in Europe in the wild state. The origin of the curious name "Gray Lag" has been the subject of much speculation. The most plausible theory is that which takes "lag" in its common meaning and supposes that the term was applied to this species of goose because it was slower in motion, or because it lingered longer in Northern Europe, than the less familiar species. As in the wild state the Gray Lag Goose ranged over Europe and Northern Asia, it may have been domesticated many times in many different places. Wild specimens may still be brought into domestication, but there are no authentic reports of such cases. The Chinese breeds of geese, which will shortly be described, are quite different in appearance from the European races, but the difference does not necessarily show that they are of different origin.

Fig. 142. Toulouse goslings three weeks old

Common geese. Throughout Europe and America the ordinary geese are of much the same type as their wild progenitor. They are a little heavier and coarser than the Gray Lag Goose, and have not its great power of flight, yet some of them can fly better than any other domestic poultry. The author has seen flocks of common geese fly from a high hill over the roofs of tall buildings at its foot and alight in a stream fully an eighth of a mile from where they started. It is perhaps needless to say that they always walked home. Such geese were hard-meated and tough except when quite young. They were geese that picked the most of their living where food was none too plenty. Well-kept stocks of common geese have probably always been very good table poultry.

Improved races. In various parts of Europe the common geese have somewhat distinctive race characteristics. The Roman Geese are supposed to be the oldest distinct race. They differ from ordinary geese in that the prevailing color is white, and they are more prolific layers. The Pomeranian Goose, found throughout Germany and Southeastern Europe, is somewhat larger. The female of this race is usually white, the male white with a gray back. Because of the peculiar markings of the male this variety is sometimes called the Saddleback Goose. The Emden and Toulouse Geese are very large. The Emden was developed in Germany, where it was at one time called the Brunswick Goose. The first specimens seen in America came from Bremen in 1826 and were called Bremen Geese. They had been known in England for a long time and had become very popular there under the name of "Emden Geese." The name "Bremen" was used in this country until about 1830, when the English name was adopted.

The Toulouse Goose is a very large gray goose which originated in a goose-growing district in the vicinity of Toulouse in the South of France. It was introduced into England about 1840 and into America about fifteen years later.

In Russia gander fighting was from very ancient times a popular sport, and several varieties of geese were bred especially for their fighting qualities. The most common of these is the Tula Goose, which is usually gray in color but is sometimes clay-colored. The latter point is very interesting for its bearing on the question of the common origin of the European and Asiatic breeds of geese, to be discussed in the next paragraph. None of the Russian races of geese are known in this country.

Fig. 143. White China Geese. (Photograph from Charles McClave, New London, Ohio)

Fig. 144. Brown China Geese. (Photograph by E. J. Hall)

The Asiatic races of geese probably came to America as early as the Asiatic races of fowls. They were early known in England under a variety of names, and were quite popular there over a hundred years ago as Spanish Geese. A writer in an agricultural paper in 1848 stated that he had seen White China Geese in Virginia in 1817. It appears, however, that the early introductions were immediately so mixed with the native geese that the distinct type was lost, and that it was not until nearly 1850 that the specimens were brought here from which the stocks now known were produced. There are two varieties of the China Goose—White and Brown. They are smaller and more graceful than the improved European varieties and are more prolific layers than any except perhaps the Roman Goose. They have a large knob on the head at its juncture with the upper mandible. Most of the geese of Europe are either white or gray (black-and-white). The red which appears to a slight extent as brown in the Gray Lag Goose has been lost or so reduced that it is not noticed except in the Tula Goose, which is sometimes clay-colored. The colored variety of the China Goose is distinctly brown. Hence, if they came from the same wild species as the European geese, the red which was reduced in Europe was greatly increased in China. But if, as is not impossible, they came from different wild species, a most interesting question arises: The Chinese types and the European types are perfectly fertile when bred together. Would their wild ancestors (supposing them to have the same characteristics) be equally fertile? Unless we can find a wild ancestor for the Chinese type, all that we know of the relations of domestic races points to the conclusion that they, like the European races, are descended from the Gray Lag Goose.

The variety known as the African Goose is a larger and coarser type of the Brown China, and is probably obtained by crossing with the Toulouse or by selection from mixed flocks. Nothing definite is known of the origin of this type, but to any one familiar with the stock in the goose-growing district of Rhode Island, and with the breeding methods of the farmers there as applied in the development of the Rhode Island Red fowl, it appears probable that African Geese came from this district.

Fig. 145. African Geese on a Rhode Island farm

Ornamental varieties. There are two ornamental varieties of domestic geese and quite a number of species of wild geese that are kept in collections of fancy waterfowl. The Sebastopol Goose evidently belongs to the common domestic species. It is about the size of the common goose, is white in color, and has a peculiar development of some of the feathers of the body and wings, this development of the plumage giving the variety its ornamental character. A number of feathers on the back of this bird are long and twisted, as if they had been loosely curled, and lie in a wavy mass on the back and rump. The Egyptian Goose is the smallest domestic goose. It is unlike other domestic geese in being quite gaudy in color. It is found in the wild state and also in domestication in many parts of Africa. Sebastopol and Egyptian Geese are rare in this country.

Fig. 146. Sebastopol Geese on an English farm

The Canada Goose, or American Wild Goose. Few persons in America have not at some time seen a flock of wild geese flying in wedgelike formation as they migrate in the spring and fall. Their honking can often be heard when they cannot be seen. Hunters watch for these flocks and, when they are flying low, sometimes shoot them as they pass, but the favorite method of hunting wild geese is to induce them to approach a hunter concealed where he can get a better shot at them. For this kind of hunting, shooting stands are built near bodies of water where wild geese may alight in their passage. These stands are either concealed in the bushes or masked by green boughs. In order to bring near the stands any wild geese that may alight of their own accord, and also to attract any flying by, captive wild geese are used as decoys. At first the birds used for this purpose were those crippled but not killed by the hunters and kept in confinement. As the supply secured in this way was small, and as the wild birds bred readily in captivity, the breeding of wild geese for decoys soon became quite common in districts where the shooting of this kind of game was good. The wild geese will mate with domestic geese, producing a sterile hybrid called a mongrel goose.

Fig. 147. A pet Canada gander. (Photograph from George E. Parrett)

Place of geese in domestication. In ancient Egypt and Rome the goose was a sacred bird, not an object of worship but reserved for the use of the priests, who keenly appreciated the advantage of having a monopoly of the use of the best domestic table bird then in existence. In later times, until the turkey was introduced, goose was the favorite kind of poultry for festal occasions all through Europe. Then it lost some of its popularity in those places where turkeys were extensively grown. In Germany, Austria, and Russia there is still a very large production of geese. In this country geese are grown in small numbers by a few persons in almost every community. The feeding and flocking habits of geese especially adapted them to the conditions under which they were kept when stock of all kinds was allowed to run at large and to feed on common or unoccupied land in charge of a gooseherd. As towns grew, and as people became less tolerant of the trespassing of live stock, the growing of geese in towns declined. Nearly all the geese now produced in this country come from flocks on general farms. The production of geese on farms has been restricted to some extent by the abundance and cheapness of turkeys. As turkeys become scarce and dear in any locality the production of geese seems to increase. From early times geese have been prized for their feathers. So valuable have these been considered that it has been a practice to pluck the live geese each year before they molted. Public opinion now condemns this barbarous practice, and persons plucking live geese are sometimes punished for cruelty to animals.

Fig. 148. Mongrel Geese on a Rhode Island farm