4 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



lower tail-coverts are pure white. The breast is suffused with 

 brown, and the belly is dull white with a few dark blotches and 

 bars. There are often some white feathers at the base of the 

 bill. The sexes are alike and there is no marked seasonal 

 change. The white-nailed bill and the legs are flesh-coloured, 

 the irides dark brown. The immature bird is darker and lacks 

 the spots and bars on the under parts and the white above the 

 bill, whilst the bill is yellow or orange and the legs are piler. 

 Mr. Abel Chapman found great variation in the colour of legs 

 and bill in both old and young ; it ranged from almost white 

 to yellow and, exceptionally, orange. The gander is the bigger 

 bird, but the size varies greatly, and all measurements of this 

 and other species must be treated as averages. Length, 

 30-34 ins. Wing, 18 ins. Tarsus, 3*3 ins. 



Bean-Goose. Anser fahalis Latham. 



The Bean-Goose (Plate 2) is a rather uncommon winter 

 visitor to most parts of Great Britain and Ireland, though 

 locally it is numerous. It breeds far north in Europe and 

 Siberia, and occurs in winter throughout Europe and in many 

 parts of Asia. Bean-geese with much yellow in the bill have 

 been separated as A. arveiisis, but there is great variety in the 

 soft parts of all grey geese. 



The back bill crossed by an orange band, and the orange 

 legs serve to identify the typical Bean ; the legs of the Pink- 

 foot, which has a somewhat similar bill, are flesh-coloured. 

 The general colour, especially on the shoulders and rump, is 

 darker than that of the Grey Lag ; on the wing its head and 

 neck look very dark, darker even than the Pink-foot, and the 

 white upper tail-covcrts show up against the brown rump. To 

 my ears the call, honk^ honk, is softer and more bell-like than the 

 note of the Pink-foot. The flight is strong and direct, the 

 wing-beats slow ; on the water the bird looks large but rather 



