Gould stated 'However general its distribution may have been in the British Islands in former times, it is at present confined to the northern part of Scotland, the Hebrides, and may sparingly be seen in Ireland.' The specimen illustrated came from Ireland, and Gould was indebted to the Earl of Enniskillen, who 'obtained for me the very fine pair, male and female, on the 15th December, 1868'.

Gould saw Greylags and their young at the Lochs Shin and Merkland, and the Reay Forest, Scotland, in the autumn of 1867.

The male (foreground) is shown about two-thirds lifesize.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds in north and central Eurasia from Iceland to north China and south Iraq and Afghanistan. Winters south to northwest Africa, Asia Minor, India, Burma, and northern Indochina.
The indigenous British stock has declined over the last two centuries, but the feral population has increased