152 THE GEESE 



numbers in the Outer Hebrides, while in 1904 a pair is said to have bred in the 

 Orkneys. Outside the British Isles it nests in Iceland, but has ceased to do so 

 in the Fseroes, while a few pairs may still survive in Friesland and Denmark, and it 

 is found locally in North Germany. The records of breeding in South Spain are 

 only due to pricked birds, but it is found in the Danube valley, and is common in 

 the Dobrogea, and in Russia ranges south to the Volga, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, 

 and the Kirghiz Steppes, but is not found north of 59 in the Perm government, 

 although common on the coasts of Finland and ranging north to the Varanger Fjord, 

 as well as in Scandinavia up to the North Cape. In Asia it ranges across the con- 

 tinent, south to Transcaspia, North Persia, Yarkand, and Mongolia, and east to 

 Ussuria and Kamtschatka, but is not found northward of the Arctic Circle. The 

 winter movements extend south to the Mediterranean and North- West Africa, 

 Central India and China, and it has occurred as a casual on the Azores and Madeira. 

 [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. A resident in small numbers, but rather more abundant as a 

 winter visitor and bird of passage from the north, arriving exceptionally as early 

 as 21st August, but more usually between 24th September and 13th November, 

 and leaving at the end of April or the beginning of May (cf. Clarke, Studies 

 in Bird Migration, 1912, vol. i. p. 159). As a truly wild bird its only British 

 breeding-places are in the Hebrides and the North-west Highlands, while in winter 

 it is uncommon on most parts of the British coasts, although numerous in a few 

 localities. It is said to be visiting the Solway in increasing numbers, and it is also 

 partial to some districts of East Leinster and to the lower Shannon. But most 

 of the birds seem to pass on to more southerly winter quarters. (Cf. Ussher and 

 Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, p. 174 ; Patten, Aquatic Birds, 1906, p. 55 ; and 

 Gladstone, B. of Dumfries., 1910, p. 239.) Gregarious. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The usual site for the nest in Scotland is among deep 

 heather, often on islands, sometimes sheltered by a boulder, less commonly in coarse 

 grass or rushes. Exceptionally it has been known to breed on a ledge in the face 

 of a cliff. On the Continent it has been known to breed in an old heron's nest in 

 Hanover, while in the delta of the Danube a floating nest like that of a grebe is 

 built of fragments of reeds and other vegetable matter. Sometimes very little 

 material is used, and the nest is little more than a scrape, lined with down from the 

 goose, but other nests are comparatively bulky, and consist of tufts of dead grass, 

 bits of heather, moss, etc., mixed with down. (PI. LXV.) The eggs are generally 

 4 to 6 in number, less often only 3, or even 7 or 8. The supposed instance of 12 



