WATER FOWL OF INDIA AND ASIA. 25 
its harlequin plumage of tortoise-shell and white, this 
hand some Goose has attracted attention from the 
remotest times, for a representation of it appears in 
what is the earliest bird-picture on record, from an 
Egyptian tomb of about 3000 B.C. In that part of the 
world, however, it is rare, though occurring as a 
straggler all over Europe, but its breeding home is in 
Western Siberia, and it migrates to Persia and 
Turkestan. _ Blyth believed that an old record of it in 
the long-defunct Oriental Sporting Magazine of 1836 
referred to it, and as lately as March 1907 Mr. E. C. 
S. Baker actually saw five on the Brahmaputra, on 
which river Mr. Mundy had previously seen the 
species, and given a recognizable description of the 
birds to Mr. Baker. 
Of the non-Indian Astatic geese there are quite a 
number of species. 
The Bean Goose. 
(Anser fabalis, SALVADORI, Brit. Mus. Cat., Birds, Vol. 
ROX VAL; p3'99-) 
This is a large goose, about equalling the Grey-LaG in size 
and with the neck-feathering similarly pleated, but not quite so 
heavily made ; in colour it is dark-brownish-grey, much browner 
than the Grey-Lac, and it has no grey on the “ shoulder ’”’ of 
the wing. The bill, which is of a good size—very stout in some 
individuals—is black at the base and on the nail, and orange for 
the rest of its length. The amount of orange varies very much, 
as does the size and depth of the beak, especially the lower jaw. 
The legs are always orange, and the eyes dark. 
The length is nearly a yard, with the closed wing nearly seven 
inches, the bill about two and-a-half, and the shank nearly 
three ; but the size varies very much. This goose ranges across the 
Northern parts of the Old World, migrating south in winter ; it 
varies a great deal, and some authors divide it into several 
Species, according to the size of the bill and the amount of orange 
on this. The most distinct of these races is MIDDENDORFF’S 
GoosE (Anser fabalis Middendorfit), which isa very large bird 
with the head and neck light buffy brown, occurring in Eastern 
