The. Geese. 



JO 



The habits of the present species do not dilTer from those of the Gre}' Lag-Goose, 

 but Seebohm states that the note is somewhat different from that of the last-named 

 species, and is more rapidly repeated and trumpet-like in tone. The nest is 

 placed in a grassy hillock and consists of a hollow lined with down. The eggs 

 vary in number from five to ten, and are of a dull yellowish-white colour; they 

 measure from three to three-and-a-quarter inches in length. 



This species is recognisable by the colour of the bill, which 

 has a black nail at the end of the upper mandible and an orange 

 band across the middle of the bill. The feet are orange, and 



THE 

 BEAN-GOOSE. 



(Anscr fiibnlis.) 



there is a distinct shade of ashy-grey on the wing-coverts. 



The White-fronted Goose. The Grey-lag Goose. The Bean Goose. The Pink-footed Goose. 



The Hean-Goose is only a winter visitor to our coasts and does not breed in 

 Great Britain. Its nesting home is in Northern Europe from Scandinavia to the 

 Valley of the Yenesei in Central Siberia, and in winter it is found visiting most 

 of the countries of Europe. With the first sign of the break-up of winter the 

 Bean-Goose appears in its breeding-grounds on the tundra of Northern Europe, and 

 as soon as the young are hatched, the old birds commence to moult and are soon 

 quite unable to fly. Numbers are then caught by the natives who prepare them for 

 their winter food. A similar moult takes place with Ducks, which are for some time 



