GREY LAG-GOOSE 57 
the eighteenth century (Ussher). In Scotland it nests in 
Caithness, Ross-shire, Sutherland and the Outer Hebrides. 
In North Uist it has nested on one occasion 700 feet 
above the sea-level (Harvie-Brown). 
Geographical distribution.—Abroad, the Grey LlLag- 
Goose breeds chiefly in the northern countries of Europe 
and Asia, viz., Iceland, Russia, Scandinavia, Holland, 
North Germany and Siberia. On its southern migration, 
it 1s widely distributed over Central and Southern Europe 
and T'emperate Asia. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male’ nuptial.—Head, neck, back, 
wings and tail, greyish-brown; base of beak surrounded 
by a few small white feathers; breast and front of neck, 
pale brown; lower breast and abdomen, dull white ; upper 
tail-coverts and wing-coverts, bluish-grey ; abdomen marked 
with a few small transverse bars of black. 
Adult female nuptial.—Similar in plumage to the male. 
Adult winter, male and female.—Sunilar to the nuptial 
plumage. 
Immature, male and female—Back darker, and head and 
neck lighter than those of the adult; black spots absent 
from the abdomen. 
Beak. Flesh-colour; tipped with a white ‘ nail.’ 
Freer. Flesh-colour. 
IrtpEs. Dark brown. 
AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... 34 in. Female smaller. 
WING Sah i Lib).  Onetnchyorso: shorter 
in the female. 
BEAK a Soe eG at 
TARSO-METATARSUS Die te 
Eee er Jee) OO) celia 
Allied Species and Representative Forms.—A. rubrirostris 
is the form which, in winter, migrates to Tropical Asia. 
1 In the Geese and Swans (Genera, Anser, Chen, Bernicla, and 
Cygnus), the adult plumage of both sexes is alike, or in some species 
with only minor differences, and without seasonal changes. In this 
respect they differ markedly from the Ducks. 
