274 DUCK GROUP 



too well known to need any attempt at description. The nest is a 

 large loose structure of grass and sedge, lined at times with moss, and 

 always furnished with a good supply of down as the eggs are laid : it is 

 placed on the ground in the neighbourhood of water. In the case of 

 the present species the number of egg^ in a clutch is five or six ; 

 when first laid (in March in Germany, but not till May in Scandi- 

 navia), they are pure white ; in length they range from 3:1; to just 

 over 3^ inches. Grass, grain, and water-plants compose the food of 

 the species. During winter, when these birds gather in large flocks 

 in countries where they are abundant, they feed on land in the 

 morning and evening, and pass most of the day on sand-spits, or on 

 the edges of the water. On the other hand, during the moulting- 

 season, when, owing to the simultaneous shedding of the flight-feathers, 

 they are debarred from seeking shelter in flight, they either keep to 

 open water or skulk amid sedge and rushes. 



Authorities differ as to the meaning of the name " grey lag," some 

 regarding it as derived from an Anglo-Saxon word indicating " field," 

 as opposed to " sea " ; while others are inclined to consider that it 

 means " the goose which lags behind," in reference to its former breed- 

 ing in the north of England. The latter derivation seems, however, 

 on the face of it, to be highly improbable. 



A specimen referred to the so-called A. rubrirostris was shot in 

 Ireland in 1901. 



White-fronted ^''^"^ ^^"^^ ^^^^ ^^S the white-fronted goose may be 



goose (Anser distinguished by its inferior size (the length not ex- 



,, .„ ceedino; 30 inches), the broad white band round 



albifrons;. r 1 1 1 r , • 1 • 



the base of the beak from which it takes its name, 



the dark brown lesser wing-coverts and hind- part of the back, the 

 conspicuous black barring of the breast, and the orange beak and legs. 

 The adult goose is somewhat smaller than the gander, with fewer bars 

 on the breast. Young birds are darker than their parents, never uni- 

 form in colour, with little or no white at the base of the beak, and the 

 " nail " of the latter light brown instead of white, young females being 

 distinguishable by the absence of black markings on the breast. 

 Goslings are dark brown above and greenish yellow below. The 

 weight of full-grown birds ranges from 6^ to 7 lbs. 



The white-fronted goose breeds farther north than either the preced- 

 ing or the following species, and never nests within the British Isles, 

 to which it is a winter-visitor, with a local and irregular distribution. 

 The breeding-range includes the whole of sub-Arctic Europe and Asia ; 



