WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. 169 



the rough grass and herbage of the swamp in which they 

 were feeding. They did not appear to have taken any alarm 

 at us ; so putting myself under the guidance of my old 

 keeper, who seemed to have a perfect knowledge of every 

 ditch and hollow of the ground by which an approach could 

 be made, I crawled and wormed myself along to within sixty 

 or seventy yards of five of the birds. To get any nearer, 

 unseen, was impossible ; raising my head, and trusting to 

 Eley's cartridges and No. 3 shot, I tired and killed a brace of 

 these very beautiful birds ; a third fell, but rose again, and 

 recovered himself. 



The white-fronted geese remained in or near the same 

 district, with only occasional absences, during the whole 

 winter, and until the month of April ; their habits in this 

 respect being very unlike those of the bean-geese, who in 

 this region are never stationary for above a few days. The 

 white-fronted goose is the handsomest species, both as to 

 form and plumage, that we ever see in Scotland. The 

 full-grown birds are distinctly and beautifully marked with 

 black bands on the breast, and have a pure white spot on the 

 front of their head. They are of a compact, firm shape, and 

 walk with great activity and lightness while feeding. Unlike 

 the bean-goose, they frequently feed in pools and swamps 

 where some favourite plant grows; and in situations which 

 the sportsman can easily approach, sometimes close to furze 

 or other cover. The other kinds of geese never by any 

 chance commit themselves in the same manner, but always 

 feed and rest in the most open situations, where it is almost 

 impossible to approach them unseen. The white-fronted 

 goose has much more the form and appearance of the common 

 tame goose than the bean-goose. In this respect, as well as 

 in the peculiar shape of the head and bill, it exactly 

 resembles the grey lag. 



A single very large wild swan appeared on the lakes on the 

 18th of October, and on the 20th he was joined by two more. 

 The wild swans, on their first arrival, almost always fly 

 into the bay from the south, coming in flocks of one hundred 

 to two hundred together. The only way I can account for 

 this, knowing that they must of necessity have wended their 

 way from the north, is, by supposing that they first alight on 

 some of the mountain lakes between Findhorn and Strathspey. 

 A large flight of these noble birds, as they circle round the 

 fresh-water lakes on their first arrival, is one of the most 



