Birds of Spitsbergen. 581 



and chooses for its nest some elevated point overlooking a 

 stream or lake. Occasionally it nests upon small islands, 

 and a female bird, with its nest, eggs, and the surrounding 

 turf, now in the National Collection, was obtained by me 

 on a small island off Cape Boheman, in Ice Fjord, on 

 June 26th; the three eggs being then slightly incubated. 

 This was the only pair of Geese upon the island. I shot 

 the female as she flew off the nest, and the male for some 

 time displayed great solicitude, swimming round and round 

 and calling incessantly, but never came within shot. On 

 June 20th these Geese had not quite scattered : for example, 

 two flocks, of 22 and 14 respectively, flew up on that day to 

 the bead of Advent Bay; but these were very late birds. On 

 July 24th two broods of young were runniug with their 

 parents near the Splendid Glacier. Both these broods were 

 in an advanced state of grey — not yellow — down. I am able 

 to support the statement already made by Mr. Abel Chapman 

 and Mr. A. H. Cocks to the efi'ect that this Goose moults 

 earlier than the Brent. Indeed, this probably also holds 

 true of their respective genera; for I have already shown 

 {' Ice-bound on Kolguev,' p. 423) that Bean and White- 

 fronted Geese are both able to fly when the primaries of the 

 Brent are only just starting to grow. There is also a point 

 of habit in which, in my experience. Brents and " Grey " 

 Geese difi'er. When a flock of Brent Geese are disturbed 

 upon the land with their young, they make with all speed 

 for the sea. " Grey " Geese, on the other hand — or, at all 

 events, A. erythropus, A. segetum, and A. brachyrhynchus, 

 the species which I have had the opportunity of observing — 

 seek the sea reluctantly and only do so when they are, or 

 think they are, '' cornered.^^ I have elsewhere {ibid. p. 221) 

 described the way in which a Bean Goose will run along and 

 then squat with its neck stretched straight out along the 

 ground, exactly in the attitude assumed by the Thick-knee 

 or Norfolk Plover. The Pink-footed Geese of Spitsbergen 

 behave in the same way, if they have their young with them. 

 Provided the ground is not too steep, they run for long 

 distances, sometimes even along the edge of the water without 

 entering it. Pink-footed Geese are remarkably quick upon 



