Count T. Salvador! on Alpheraky's 



XXXVI. — Notes on Alpheraky's ' Geese of Europe and Asia.' 

 By T. Salvador^ H.M.B.O.U. 



When I was working at the twenty seventh volume of the 

 'Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum* I was fully 

 aware that the material at my disposal was not sufficient to 

 settle several questions, especially as regards the species of 

 Geese, and I entertained the hope that Russian ornithologists 

 might procure the requisite materials more easily than those 

 of other countries, inasmuch as many of the species of 

 Anser are at home in Siberia and in the more northern 

 latitudes of the Russian Empire. It was, then, with great 

 expectations that I heard of Mr. Alpheraky's project of 

 bringing out a ' Monograph of the Geese of Europe and Asia/ 

 My expectation has not been disappointed, and I have found 

 Alpheraky's book a good piece of work, on which, however, I 

 wish to oiler a few remarks. 



As it is most important to know the geographical dis- 

 tribution of the Geese — where they breed and whither they 

 migrate, — a map, in which the areas of the different species 

 are clearly shown, would have been a great improvement to 

 the work. The lack of this feature is much to be regretted. 

 Another weak point of Alpheraky's essay is the want of 

 conciseness and the very frequent repetitions, which, instead 

 of producing clearness often lead to the opposite result. 



The genera Chen and Philucte do not call for remarks, as 

 does the genus Anser. This has been split in two, viz. Anser 

 of Brisson and Melanonyx of Buturlin : the former genus 

 being distinguished by the light nail of the bill and by the 

 feet entirely light-coloured, and by the abdomen having black 

 patches in the adult birds ; while the second {Melanonyx) 

 has a black nail on the bill and shews no black patches on 

 the abdomen. These characters do not appear to me to be 

 of generic value. 



In the genus Anser are included the Grey Lag Goose 

 {Anser anser = A. ferus), the White-fronted Goose (A.albifrons), 

 and the Lesser White-fronted Goose (A. finmarchicus) . 



