EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 35 



THE RED-BREASTED GOOSE. 



(A user ruficollis.)* 



Plate 11, Fig. 1. 



The occurrence of the Red-breasted Goose in our islands is 

 purely accidental ; but its breeding-range is situated far enough 

 north for occasional stragglers from the eastern shores of the 

 Kara Sea to mingle with the flocks of Brent and Bernacle Geese 

 which migrate to our shores in autumn from Franz- Josef Land, 

 Novaya-Zemlya, and Spitsbergen. Half a dozen authentic 

 specimens have been obtained in this country. During the 

 breeding-season the Red-fronted Goose is confined to the lower 

 valleys of the Ob and Yenisei above the limit of forest growth. 

 In winter it has occurred in nearly every country in Europe except 

 Spain. It passes through South-western Siberia and Northern 

 Turkestan on migration to winter in the Caspian Sea. Elsewhere 

 its occurrence is only accidental. 



Very little is known of the nesting-habits of the Red-breasted 

 Goose, which appears to be a late breeder. Middendorf obtained 

 slightly incubated eggs on the Bogan river on the 6th of July, 

 and the egg which is figured in the present work was obtained 

 on the 1st of July, about two hundred miles due east of that 

 locality. It measures 2' 7 inches in length and 1'8 inch in breadth. 

 The colour is creamy- white, with obscure traces of an underlying 

 green shell ; the surface is rather smooth but not glossy, and the 

 shell is very fragile. Middendorf's eggs varied in length from 

 2 "8 to 2" 7 inches, and in breadth from 176 to 1'73 inch. 



THE CANADA GOOSE. 



(Anser canadensis.) f 



Plate 12, Fig. 2. 



The present species is an inhabitant of North America, and is 

 so often kept in confinement, that there can be little doubt that 

 the specimens, which are occasionally shot, have escaped from 

 captivity. The eggs are dull white, and measure 3"65 to 3'35 

 inches in length, and 2' 3 inches in breadth. 



* Bcrnicla ruficollis — Saunders, Manual, p. 395; Sharpe, Handb., II., p. 243. 



f Bcrnicla canadensis — Saunders, Manual, p. 400, note. Branta canadensis — 

 Salvadori, Cat. B., Brit. Mus., xxvii., p. 112. 



