154 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
ORDER ANSERES. 
FAMILY ANATID&. 
GREY LAG GOOSE. 
ANSER CINEREUS, Meyer. 
Even on the east coast of England the Grey Lag 
Goose is now only occasionally met with, whilst on the 
west it is very rare. Dr. Dobie informs us that Captain 
Congreve has a water-colour sketch of a Goose, marked 
‘Grey Lag or Common Wildgoose, Burton, October 18th, 
1841, Anas anser, in which the nail on the bill is 
distinctly white. In 1846 the late T. W. Barlow re- 
corded the fact that a ‘Gray Goose (Anser palustris)’ 
was taken about that date near Holmes Chapel, and 
remarked on its great rarity.1 Some years ago Mr. R. 
Nunnerley shot a Grey Lag out of a skein of eight or 
nine birds which were crossing the Buxton Road about 
a mile and a half east of Macclesfield. The bird was 
not preserved, but Mr. Nunnerley, who has had wide 
experience as a wildfowler, is sure of its identity and 
well remembers the characteristic white nail. 
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 
ANSER ALBIFRONS (Scopoli). 
The White-fronted Goose used to be a well-known 
visitor to the tidal waters of the Mersey Estuary in 
1 Zoologist, ser. 1. vol. iv. p. 1501. 1846. 
