DUTCH AND ENGLISH BIRDS, 215 
The eggs are three, or very seldom four in number 
and the young which are generally hatched in June differ 
considerably in size in the same nest, so that the largest 
of them is often almost completely feathered whilst the 
smallest is still in down. 
It is exactly the same case as with the purple heron 
and has probably the same cause. Very young chicks have 
a short soft and bright yellow bill, the cere round it and 
the skin round the eyes is bright blue. After a time these 
fine colours fade away and the bill gets a pale flesh colour, 
and only several months after the birds have gone out of 
the nest the bill gets its proper size and colour. In the Br. 
Islands this bird formerly bred but is now a mere straggler. 
Genus Plegadis. 
Plegadis falcinellus (Linn.). 
An accidental straggler to Holland and the Br. Isl. 
Order ANSERES. 
Genus Anser. 
Anser cinereus Meyer. 
Breeds in small numbers in Friesland, visiting other parts 
on migration in autumn and winter and is never numerous. 
Breeds in the North of Scotland; a winter visitant 
elsewhere, 
Anser arvensis Naum. 
This larger form of Anser segetum is easily distinguished 
from the other by its larger size and longer bill which 
is orange, the black back, nail and lower mandible of 
it excepted; occurs in Holland in autumn and winter in 
large flocks. 
Probably this bird does not occur in the Br. Isl. or if 
it does, has been overlooked as a distinct form of Anser 
segetum. 
Notes from the Leyden Museum, Vol. XV. 
