I ■\2 



Britis/i Birds. 



THE 



SNOW-GOOSE. 



[Chen liypcrborfus.) 



THE GREY 

 LAG-GOOSE. 

 (Anser anscy.) 



The Snow Goose. The Can.\d.\ Goose (/i. 134). 



The Snow- 

 Goose, remark- 

 able for its 

 beautiful white 

 plumage and black wing-feathers, is 

 an inhabitant of the Arctic Regions of 

 North America, but has occurred 

 in Northern Europe. It has been 

 noticed in Yorkshire and Cumberland, 

 but the only birds as 3'et captured 

 within British limits are a pair shot 

 in Co. Wexford, in Ireland, in No- 

 vember, 1S71. The nest is a mere 

 hollow in the ground, and the eggs 

 are five in number, of a dirty white 

 colour, about three- and ■ a- quarter 

 inches in length. 



This Goose is 

 to be told by the 

 colour of the bill, 



which is tlesh-coloured and has a white nail at the tip. The 

 feet are also flesh-coloured, and the rump is light grey; there is no sign of white 

 on the forehead. The Grey Lag-Goose used at one time to breed in Lincolnshire, 

 but its nesting-area is now restricted to the North of Scotland and the Hebrides : 

 it has not been found breeding m Ireland. It nests in Central and Northern 

 Europe, but is known in other parts of the Western Paktarctic Region as a winter 

 visitor only. 



The present species teeds on grass and water-plants and frequents the stubble- 

 fields to pick up grain, retiring at night-time to quiet places on the sea-shore. The 

 nest is a large structure of dead reeds and sedge, and is lined with moss and down. 

 The eggs are five or six in number, and are pure white when first laid, but afterwards 

 become discoloured wMi the nest-stains, and appear of a dirty yellowish white 

 colour ; they measure from three-and-a-quarter to three-and-a-half inches in length. 

 This is a smaller bird than the Grey Lag-Goose, and is 

 distinguished by its orange-coloured feet and bill, the latter 

 having a white nail at the end ; the white forehead is also 

 a character which separates it from Anscr anser at a glance. It 

 is onl}- a winter visitor to Great Britain, and is more frec|uently observed in Ireland 

 than in bLngland or Scotland, its breeding-home being in Northern Ivurope from Scandi- 

 navia to Central Siberia, as well as in Iceland and Greenland. In winter it is found 

 throughout Europe and occurs at the same season in North-western India and China. 



THE WHITE 

 FRONTED-GOOSE. 



{Anscr albifrons.) 



