i82 White-fronted Goose 



Earlj^ in August the Geese begin to make their reappearance 

 on the low ground, which I have already described, and to which 

 they will adhere for the next seven or eight months unless very much 

 disturbed. 



White-fronted Geese {Anser albifrom, Scopoli). 



These make their first appearance on the island about the 

 middle of October, and remain until the end of April. There is 

 a very marked difference in the plumage of the adult and that of 

 the immature birds, while the adults vary rather widely among 

 themselves, and the same may be said of the immature specimens. 

 In the adults, some birds have only a few incomplete black bars 

 or bands underneath ; in others again, these parts are almost 

 completely black ; the extent of the white forehead also varies very 

 widely. In the immature birds, all are without the black ventral 

 bands, but some have light grey, some quite dark brown under parts. 

 The white forehead is never fully developed. In some it is altogether 

 wanting, in others a few white feathers springing out here and there 

 among the brown, give a piebald aspect. 



It is mainly to the soft parts I wish to call your attention. 



Adult. 



1. The bill is, in the main, a beautiful waxy white (the colour 

 of a newly-bound vellum volume). On the upper surface — the bridge 

 of the nose, so to speak — is a longitudinal band of bright cadmium- 

 yellow, about one inch long, with its centre opposite the nares, 

 fading away to white above and below. A narrow streak of the same 

 bright yellow is seen on the cutting edge of the upper mandible, 

 and above the opening of the nostril, and a broader band appears 

 on the basal half of the lower mandible. The nail is a brilliant 

 glistening white (Plate IV ; Fig. 2). 



2. The legs and toes are the colour of a ripe orange, the 

 interdigital membranes slightly paler, and the toenails pure white. 



3. The eyelids are dark brown, and are not swollen. In two 

 adult Geese, however, that I shot, the eyelids were lemon-yellow, 

 which is supposed to be one of the distinguishing characters of 

 A. ervthropns. My specimens certainly belonged to the common 

 species albifrons. 



Immature. 



I. The bills vary enormously, the variation being due to age, 

 I think, rather than sex. The bill is almost entirely dull chrome- 

 yellow ; there is frequently a little black pigment about the opening 

 of the nares, and the nail is parti-coloured, its terminal two-thirds 

 being dark-horn, and the proximal one-third greyish-white (Plate V ; 

 Fig. 3)- 



