32 EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



THE GKEY LAG-GOOSE. 

 {Anser cinereus.)* 



Plate 8, Fig. 3. 



A hundred years ago the Grey Lag-Goose bred in the fens and 

 marshes of the eastern counties of England ; but the reclamation 

 of these extensive wastes has long since driven the birds to seek 

 more congenial quarters. Its only breeding-places in the British 

 Islands are in Boss, Sutherland, and Caithness, and on many of 

 the Hebrides. The breeding-range of the species extends through- 

 out Scandinavia and Denmark, Northern Germany, and North 

 Russia, as far as the Ob, and probably to the Valley of the Yenisei. 



The Grey Goose builds a large, slovenly nest of dead reeds, 

 grass, and sedge, with sometimes a stick or two near the founda- 

 tion. It is often a yard across, and a foot high, and, in cold 

 climates, is generally lined with moss, to which down is added as 

 the eggs are laid. The number of eggs is usually six or eight, but 

 nests have been found containing as many as fourteen. They are 

 dull, creamy- white in colour, and vary in length from 3' 7 to 3"2 

 inches, and in breadth from 2"5 to 2'2 inches. They cannot easily 

 be confused with those of any other British Goose. They are 

 larger than those of the White-fronted Goose, and heavier than 

 those of any other species. 



THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 



(Anser albifrojis.) 

 Plate 10, Fig. 4. 



The White-fronted Goose is a winter visitor to the British 

 Islands, but is somewhat local in its distribution and erratic in its 

 appearance. 



The White-fronted Goose breeds at a higher latitude than its 

 congener the Bean-Goose, and still more so than its much closer 

 ally, the Grey Goose. Middendorf found it nesting in great abun- 

 dance on the Taimur peninsula, between lat. 70° and 74°, where 

 the Bean-Goose was comparatively rare. He describes the nest 

 as built on a grassy hillock, a mere hollow on the summit abun- 

 dantly lined with down. Five to seven appears to be the usual 

 number of eggs. They are creamy- white in colour, and vary in 

 length from 3'1 to 2'8 inches, and in breadth from 2'1 to 19 inch. 



* Anser anser — Sharpe, Handb., II., p. 227. 



