LettfiTs, Extracts, and Notes. 503 



Avintei'. Many specimens were caught, and about one 

 hundred were brought to and sold in the markets o£ 

 Florence. I believe that about sixty of them were preserved, 

 and are now in the Museum of Florence, in my own Museum, 

 and in the collections of Marquis Ridolfi, Messrs. Pierotti, Ra- 

 gionieri, Zaffagnini, Signoriua Picchi, &c., all from Florence. 



After the many specimens I have examined, I think 

 it useful to state that in its general brown colouring this 

 Goose varies very much, and shews considerable differences, 

 and that such variations are not dependent on either sex or 

 age. The number of teeth on the side of the upper mandible 

 is usually about 28, and more seldom 26. 



From information received from Manfredonia I find that 

 this Goose was met with there in parties of all sizes, but more 

 often in small flocks of four or five than in larger companies, 

 cackling incessantly when in flight. They frequented 

 localities rich in aquatic grasses rather than the corn- and 

 stubble-fields. The flight of these Geese was either con- 

 tinuous and uninterrupted, or gradual, with more or less 

 prolonged halts at convenient feeding-grounds. They fed 

 exclusively, so far as my information goes, on vegetable 

 matter, tender shoots of grass, water-weeds, young corn and 

 other spring crops, and on grain of all kinds. These Geese 

 were extremely shy, cautious, and well on the alert when 

 feeding, so that it was very diflicult to approach them. 



This Goose is highly esteemed as a table bird and the flesh 

 is delicious, but everything depends on the food that the 

 birds last fed on. 



Some young birds in the first plumage with the white 

 feathering entirely absent on the top of forehead and along 

 the base of the upper mandible and replaced by black or 

 brown-black were mistaken for A. hrachyrhynchus, but in the 

 large number at my disposal I was unable to find a single 

 Pink-footed Goose. 



I am. Sirs, yours &c., 



Count £. Arrigoni Degli Oddi. 

 Padua, 



April 21st, 1909, 



