EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 31 



Hebrides. There seems to be no evidence that it has ever bred 

 in any part of the British Islands. It is a more northerly species 

 than the Grey Lag-Goose, and in Scandinavia is not known to 

 breed south of Lat. 64°. In North Kussia it breeds near Arch- 

 angel, and in the Valley of the Petchora above the limits of 

 forest growth, as well as in the Valley of the Yenisei. 



The Bean-Goose is an early breeder, beginning to make its rude 

 nest almost before the snow is melted, early in June. A slight 

 hollow is scraped in the soil, and lined with dead grass, moss, 

 sometimes a few feathers, and always plenty of the light grey- 

 down of the bird itself. The number of eggs is generally three, 

 but often four. They are creamy- white in colour, with a rough, 

 granular texture, and very little gloss. They are almost always 

 decidedly more rounded at one end than at the other. They vary 

 in length from 3"4 to 30 inches, and in breadth from 2 - 2 to 

 2*1 inches. The largest eggs of the Bean-Goose are as large 

 or larger than the smallest eggs of the Grey Goose, but they may 

 be distinguished at once by their weight. The smallest egg of the 

 Grey Goose weighs more than two sovereigns ; the largest egg of 

 the Bean-Goose scarcely weighs a sovereign and a half. Eggs of 

 the Bean-Goose cannot be distinguished from those of the Pink- 

 footed Goose or from large ones of the White-fronted Goose. 



THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. 



(Anser brachy rhy nchus .) 



Plate 10, Fig. 3. 



The present species is a common winter visitor to the coasts 

 of the British Islands, though it has only once been recorded from 

 Ireland. It is less common on the south coast of England, most 

 abundant on the outer Hebrides and the east coast of England, 

 but it does not appear to have been observed in the Shetlands. 

 It certainly breeds in Iceland and Spitsbergen, and probably on 

 Franz-Josef Land. To the British Islands it is only a regular 

 visitor in spring and autumn migration, and in winter it occasion- 

 ally strays as far as the coasts of Belgium and France. 



The nest and eggs do not differ from those of the Bean Goose, 

 but the eggs may be distinguished from small eggs of the Grey 

 Goose by their lighter weight {vide anted) . 



