4i6 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



to the description of a species of Wild Goose which was re- 

 ported to him, by the renowned Dr. Martin Lister of York, 

 as nesting in the marshes of the county of York. Ray's 

 account is as follows : ' Rostrum a capite ad mediant fere 

 partem nigrum, deinde subpurpureum, ipso etiam apice nigro : 

 in superiore mandibula nonnisi unicus denticulorum ordo, 

 atque idem simplex in inferiors ; item huic lingua uno den- 

 ticulorum ordine armatur. Pedes subpurpurei sive carnei 

 colons, ungues fere albidi, excepto medii digiti, qui ex majori 

 parte nigricat. Pendet libras y\ fere. In paludibus agri 

 Eboracensis nidificant : ipsi & eorum Pulli mense Maio 

 pinguescunt, & in deliciis habentur. Hactenus D. Lister, 

 qui tamen hanc speciem ab Ansere fero vulgari nobis descripto 

 diversam esse non fidentur affirmat, quoniam descriptiones in 

 omnibus fere, excepto Rostri 6- pedum color e, convenient.' 

 (" Syn. Meth. Av." 1713, p. 138.).* 



The species which nested in Yorkshire was, of course, 

 the Grey Lag, though Dr. Lister's description certainly refers 

 to the Pink-footed Goose, and he must have taken it for granted 

 that the specimen he described so well was of the same species 

 as that which bred in the county, about which he possibly 

 had little personal knowledge, and probably never saw an 

 example. 



Curiously enough Ray's statement seems to have been en- 

 tirely overlooked and the vast flocks of migratory Grey Geese, 

 which each winter came to this country with unfailing regu- 

 larity, and were such a feature in the landscape of certain 



* The beak from the top to about the middle part black, thence 

 purplish, the tip (nail) itself also black : in the upper mandible there 

 is but one row of small teeth, and in the lower one the same row is 

 plain (? single) ; the tongue moreover is armed with one row of small 

 teeth. The feet purplish or flesh-coloured, the claws almost white, 

 except the middle toe, which for the larger part becomes black. It 

 weighs almost 7^ Ibs. They nest in the marshes of the county of York ; 

 they, themselves, in the month of May become fat and are deemed 

 delicacies. Thus far Dr. Lister, who, however, does not confidently 

 state that this species described to us is different from the common Wild 

 Goose, since the descriptions in almost everything, except the colour 

 of the bill and feet, agree. 



