The Mythological Goose Tree



 
Description  A type of goose that grows on trees, and then drops into the water.
Features Some people thought that these geese hatched from barnacles, and were thus able to eat them on Friday, since they were considered to be fish, not meat.
Also called Tree Goose Barnacle Goose
Described By: Giraldus Cambrensis-  " They are like marsh-geese, but smaller.  They are produced from fir timber tossed about at sea, and are at first like geese upon it.  Afterwards they hang down by their beaks...in the course of time.. they either fall into the water, or seek their liberty in the air by flight... I have seen with my own eyes more than a thousand minute bodies of these birds hanging from one piece of timber on the shore, enclosed in shells and already formed...Hence the bishops and clergy in some parts of Ireland are in the habit of partaking of these birds, on fast days, without scruple".

Sir John Mandeville-  "in my countrey are trees that beare fruit, that become byrds flying, and they are good to eate, and that that falleth on the water, liveth, andthat that falleth on the earth, dyeth."

Sebastian Muenster- "We find trees in Scotland which produce a fruit enveloped in leaves, and when it drops into the water at a suitable time, it takes life and is turned into a live bird, which they call the tree bird."

Also described by Olaus Magnus,  Gerat de Veer, Aldrovandus, and Gesner.

 

Might  actually be What is currently called the barnacle goose, or the Brent goose.  Of course, they do not grow from trees.

 

The above is included just for fun and is pure myth.
 Information courtesy of:
Dave's
Mythical Creatures and Places


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