i 94 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Grey Lag-Goose (Anser cinereus). This Goose occurs but 

 sparingly, mostly on migration. But I see a few occasionally in 

 winter. They never stay long on the island but pass further south. 

 I have seldom seen many on their way north in spring, although 

 they breed in the outer islands, which are not far away. 



White-fronted Goose {Anser albifrons). The White-fronted 

 Geese usually arrive about the latter end of October, and remain 

 till the latter end of April. They arrive from the north-west : some 

 flocks in V-formation, while others are in a long string. I have 

 often seen them coming. They are very high up when they arrive 

 over Tiree, and before they can plane down they are far past the 

 island to the south-east. Then when they have got low enough 

 they swing round, and come in to alight, so that if one had not seen 

 them coming from the north-west, one would imagine they had 

 come in from the south-east. There are usually between four and 

 five hundred White-fronted Geese on Tiree every winter. They 

 never go near the sea-shore, but feed on marshy ground. They also 

 flight to shallow lochs at night, and pull up, and eat, a sort of grass 

 that grows in the lochs. They are very difficult to stalk, as there are 

 always one or two on the lookout while the others are feeding. 

 The best way to get them is to wait for them flighting to the lochs in 

 the gloaming. They vary very much in weight; some are only 

 about four pounds, while others weigh up to and a little over seven 

 pounds. They also vary much in colour [according to age and sex]. 

 Some have a great deal of black on the breast, while others have 

 none; but they all have the "White Front" on the head. They 

 leave here entirely about the 28th of April and go off in a north- 

 westerly direction. 



Canadian Goose {Anser canadensis). I have seen one Canadian 

 Goose shot here a male. He was leading bird of a flock of about 

 thirty Geese, and was shot when passing overhead in the late gloaming. 

 It was then too dark to distinguish what the other Geese were, or 

 whether there were more Canadian Geese among them. 



Barnacle Goose (Bemicla leucopsis). Small flocks of these 

 birds are common now and again, every winter. They do not as a 

 rule go far inland, but remain and feed on grass near the sea-shore. 

 They are not nearly such good birds for the table as the White- 

 fronted Geese, and consequently are not so much sought after. 



Brent Goose {Bemicla brenta). Occurs only during a spell of 

 hard frost, and then but sparingly. I have seen a few passing here 

 on the autumn migration, and an odd bird in spring. These 



