75 



S. Alphéraky har (Geese of Europe and Asia) undersøgt et 

 betydeligt Antal palæarktiske Blisgæs; han opgiver nedenstaaende 

 Maal for gamle Fugle: 



Vinge Næb Mellenilod 



375—435 mm. 40—56 mm. 51—81 mm. 



Denne Forfatter har fundet, at Blisgæs tiltage i Størrelse jo 

 længere man kommer mod Øst (1. c. S. 46); han opgiver en Del 

 af Dr. Sushkin tagne Næbmaal af Fugle fra »Turgai district and 

 the Ryazan Government« og skriver (S. 47): »Summing up these 

 measurements, we obtain the result that white-fronted geese 

 from Novaia Zemlia, Livonia, the Kharkow, Ryazan, and Oren- 

 burg Governments, and the Kirgiz steppe (including young birds), 

 have the culmen measuring: 43 — 49 mm. 



from Verkhne-Kolymsk 42 — 50 » 



» Kamchatka 44 — 52 » 



» Sakhalin, Yezo, and Japan . . . 44 — 53 » 

 » Chukchi Peninsula and Anadyr 46 — 56 » 

 Consequently, adult birds occurring in Russia have culmen- 

 length 43 to 56 mm. the maximum length being 56 mm. recorded 

 only in one specimen which came from the most easterly portion 

 of Asiatic Russia, thus being entirely in accord with the general 

 increase of bilis in geese as we proceed eastwards. We see, 

 however, that the other Anadyr specimen and all those from 

 Chuhchiland collected by Baron Maidel have considerably shorter 

 bilis, one of these, viz. 41 mm., even yielding to some European 

 examples in size. We have no specimens of Greenland v^^hite- 

 fronted geese, but apparently they are rather less than the Eu- 

 ropean form, and cannot be referred to A. gambeli. 



In North America it is, however, well known that the white- 

 fronted goose sometimes exceeds in the dimensions of the bill 

 even the specimen we have cited above from x\nadyr, at times 

 attaining the great length of 60 mm.; but it must be remem- 

 bered that there also the length of bill of this goose varies from 

 40 — 60 mm. — that is to sav, there also often occur individuals 

 not excelling European specimens. Nevertheless, taken all to- 

 gether, it must be admitted, that American white-fronted geese 

 are somewhat larger than ours; but in view of the faet that the 

 colouring of the whole bird, and, in particular, of the soft parts, 

 does not ditfer from that of ours. I do not know bv what cha- 



