In the engraving by the artist George Edwards (? –1773), a Piskulka (Latin: Anser erythropus)—a small goose that earned its name for the whistle it makes in flight—is depicted.
Geese are large waterfowl belonging to the duck family, one of the most popular domestic birds (the third most popular after chickens and ducks). However, there are still many wild geese left in the world—eleven species. They inhabit all over the globe, excluding the polar regions.
Domestic geese are primarily famous for the fact that they once prevented the course of world history from changing. In the 4th century BCE, under the cover of night, the Gauls (northern barbarians who later became French) attacked Rome and captured almost the entire city, threatening the main hill—the Capitoline. It was there that the sacred geese in the Temple of Juno heard the commotion and began to make a loud noise. The ancient Romans awoke, and—thus, the age of antiquity was extended for nearly a thousand years.
Geese made yet another invaluable contribution to world culture. All great (and lesser) literary works created before the beginning of the 19th century (when the steel nib was invented) were written with goose quills (though sometimes swan feathers were found): «Don Quixote, ” „Hamlet, ” „Gulliver’s Travels, ” „Robinson Crusoe, ” „Eugene Onegin, ” and many, many others…