PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 155 



orange. The juvenile plumage is an earthy grey colour, paler on the under parts ; 

 the secondaries edged with white. The legs and feet greyish yellow. The young 

 in down is of a light grey, the beak blackish, and the legs dead black, [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. This species is also a winter visitor to our islands. It is 

 frequently stated to breed in Iceland, but there is no confirmation of this state- 

 ment ; and there is much difference of opinion as to whether two species have been 

 united under one name, A. fabalis (or segetum) and A. arvensis. Some form of 

 bean-goose breeds in Scandinavia north of lat. 64, as well as in the Kola Peninsula, 

 Lapland, and the Archangel and Olonetz governments and south to lat. 62 in 

 Finland. It breeds hi large numbers on Kolguev, Novaya Zemlya, and the 

 Petschora district, and also ranges into Siberia, but there seems little doubt that 

 the East Siberian birds at any rate are separable. During the winter months the 

 migratory movements of this species extend south to the Mediterranean and Black 

 Seas, and in Asia it has been met with in Palestine and on the Caspian, while the 

 eastern form visits China and Japan, and some race has been recorded as a casual 

 from Madeira. Statements of breeding in E. Greenland probably refer to the 

 pinkfooted-goose, but the whole literature of this species is still in a very confused 

 state. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. A cold-weather visitor from the north, exceptionally ap- 

 pearing as early as llth September, but usually between 5th October and 3rd 

 November, and remaining till April or May (cf. Clarke, Studies in Bird Migration, 

 1912, vol. i. p. 159 ; and Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, p. 413). It visits parts of 

 Great Britain in large numbers, but is much less common than the pinkfooted- 

 goose on the east coast. It visits Ireland mainly in severe winters, and is usually 

 neither very common nor widespread (cf. Ussher and Warren, B. of Ireland, 1900, 

 p. 177). Our information regarding the migration and winter distribution of the 

 various " grey geese " is unsatisfactory, owing to the fact that the exact species is 

 very frequently unascertainable hi the field. Of the migratory habits of the genus 

 we may say that the birds travel both by day and by night, and in large flocks 

 which very often display the characteristic flight-formations. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Does not breed hi the British Isles. [F. c. B. j.] 



5. Food. Corn and rice hi cultivated districts, grass and other vegetation, 

 and in autumn wild fruits : the young feed on insects, snails, and Crustacea, but 

 as to their guardianship by the parents nothing is known, [w. P. p.] 



