454 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



the tip, which was flesh-coloured. The cygnets are 

 described in ZooL, 1895, p. 24. 



CASSIN'S SNOW GOOSE. Anser albatus, Cassin. 

 Length, 28 in. ; bill, 2-1 in. ; wing, 15 in. ; tarsus, 3 in. 



Rab. North America ; Hudson's Bay Region. 



Two out of a flock, Wexford Harbour, Nov. 1871 : Howard 



Saunders, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1872, p. 519. 

 Two, Belmullet, co. Mayo, Oct. 1877: Harting, Zunl., 1878, 



pp. 419, 453 ; Bidwell, torn, cit, p. 453 ; Harting, ZooL, 



1881, p. 308. 

 Three seen in flight near Beverley, Yorkshire, Jan. 1891 : 



Sharp, Field, Jan. 24 and Feb. 7, 1891. 

 Four on the Solway : Macpherson, Field, Jan. 31, 1891. 

 Flock of twenty on the sands to the north of Holy Island, 



Northumberland, Jan. 1892: Bolam, Nat., 1892, and 



long article in Neivcastle Journ., Jan. 14, 1892. 



Obs. As to the propriety of separating Aiiser 

 albatus, Cassin, from cwrulescens, Linn, [hyper- 

 horeus, Pall.), see Baird, " Birds N. America," p. 

 760. The difference is chiefly one of size. Dr. 

 Elliott Cones does not regard them as specifically 

 distinct, but treats albatus as a smaller race of 

 hyperboreus. See his " Birds of the North-West," 

 p. 549, ana Zool, 1878, p. 454. 



RED-BREASTED GOOSE. Bernicla ruficollis (Pallas). 

 PI. 27, flg. 7. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 14 

 in, ; tarsus, 2 in. 



Hah. Northern Asia and Siberia. 



One near London, winter 1766 : Montagu (fide Latham), 

 " Orn. Diet." According to Fox (" Synops. Newcastle 

 Museum," p. 97), this date should be Jan. 1776. 



