GtfO GOO 



ascertained that the brent goose does breed in Suther- | 

 land. There is, however, a difference of habit in the 

 two : the brent goose frequents the fields and meadows, 

 and is altogether more inland than this one. 



THE BEAN GOOSE (A. scgctum). This species is 

 the wild goose of the more northerly parts of Britain ; 

 and it gets its name, not from any partiality that it 

 has for beans, but from the nail on the tip of its bill 

 bearing some slight resemblance to a small black 

 horse bean. In its general characters it bears a very 

 considerable resemblance to the grey lag, or common 

 wild goose, and, on that account, some naturalists 

 have confounded them. They are distinct species, 

 however, and the bean goose does not come quite so 

 far to the south as the other ; though it occasionally 

 makes its appearance in great numbers, which are 

 very destructive to the fields of autumn-sown wheat, 

 which they are very prone to. From the confusion 

 that there has been of this with the other species, it 

 is not very easy to reduce the accounts of them to 

 any thing very precise ; and so it may bo that in all 

 parts of the British islands this is the most abundant 

 species. That it is in the north is certain ; and it 

 has been met with in the extreme south. It breeds in 

 many of the more northerly of the Hebrides ; and 

 probably also in Orkney and Shetland, though there 

 are no distinct accounts of the nests in those islands. 

 The bean goose varies considerably in size ; but, 

 generally speaking, it is about two inches shorter, 

 and three or four inches less in extent of w ing than 

 the grey goose. The bill is also smaller in propor- 

 tion, and more compressed towards the tip. It is of 

 a pale flesh colour, or orange, with the exception of 

 the nail, which is black, and which, as has been said, 

 is the foundation of the trivial English name. This 

 black nail is indeed the principal distinction ; for, in 

 other respects, excepting size, which is not a charac- 

 ter, there is often a great resemblance between this 

 and the other wild goose. Both mandibles of the 

 bill are toothed rather more strongly than in the 

 other. The eyes are hazel or brownish. The head 

 and neck are ashy brown ; the whole of the under 

 part, as far back as the legs, is of the same colour, 

 but paler, though on the thighs the colour is deeper. 

 The forehead speckled with white, behind which the 

 feathers are dusky brown. The back is ash-colour ; 

 the lower part of the belly, upper, and under tail- 

 coverts white ; the scapulars brown ash-colour, edged 

 with white ; the greater quill-feathers black ; exterior 

 webs grey ; secondaries cinereous grey, margined 

 with black on the outer webs. The coverts are grey 

 excepting the larger ones, which are grey, tippeci 

 with white. There appears to be some little varia- 

 tion in the plumage of these birds : in some the bil 

 is of a dull brownish red ; the upper part of the back, 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts brown, dashed with cine- 

 reous, and tipped with white ; greater quills plait 

 dusky black ; secondaries grey, tipped and marginec 

 with white. On the elbow of the wing there is 

 callous knob. The windpipe is enlarged about the 

 middle, and its branchings into the lungs are shor 

 and inflated. These characters are quite sufficien 

 to distinguish this species from all the others ; anc 

 there is another 'character about them which is pecu- 

 liar, that they are more impatient of restraint, and 

 therefore not so easily tanned. They come to the 



British islands in the autumn, spread themselves over 

 the country, frequenting the pools on the moors, but 

 dispersing themselves during the day in the fields of 



S E. 



autumn wheat, on which they levy pretty heavy con- 

 tributions. Their mode of flight is exactly similar to 

 hat of the grey geese ; and in autumn and early 

 winter numerous flights of them are observed en chc- 

 wow over the middle parts of Scotland. In many 

 districts they remain during the winter in the inoor- 

 and pools, feeding in the day on the adjoining fields, 

 and retiring to the water at night. In moonlight 

 ights they are a tempting game to the rural sports- 

 man ; and as there is no game-law by which a wild 

 g-oose is protected, they occasion those rustics to pass 

 many a cold and anxious night. They are exceed- 

 ingly vigilant, so that if there is not some cover be- 

 tween, they see the sportsmen before the sportsmen 

 see them. Hence banks of turf are erected in favour- 

 able situations, behind which the shooters lie in wait 

 wilh long Spanish-barrel guns ; but it is doubtful 

 whether the sport is, upon the whole, a profitable one. 

 There is no poaching in the case, however, for poach- 

 ing is a child of game-laws ; and those who shoot 

 bean geese in these places shoot them for themselves 

 or for presents, and not for sale. When wounded in 

 the wing only, they make a bold resistance, and bite 

 almost as sharply as a toothed animal. Their feathers 

 are also exceedingly close ; and it is difficult to shoot, 

 them effectually, unless in the rear, or when their 

 wings are elevated. Indeed, when obtained, the 

 prize is one of glory rather than of gain to the rustic, 

 for the flesh of the bean goose is more hard and tough, 

 and in every way far inferior to that of the grey. 



THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (A. alblfrons). There 

 are some doubts whether this species, which comes 

 to Britain in winter rather as an accidental straggler 

 than as a regular visitant, may not be the young of the 

 snow goose. At least this is the opinion of some of 

 those who have written on the subject. When 

 they come to the British islands they do not attack 

 the corn fields, but confine themselves to the more 

 humid parts of the marshes ; and as the small flocks 

 that do make their appearance are generally of one 

 character, the probability is in favour of their being 

 distinct, though they certainly have the same habit 

 in feeding as the snow goose, and are the laughing 

 geese of those who describe British birds. 



The length is about two feet four inches, the extent 

 of the wings about four feet and a half, and the 

 weight about five pounds. The bill is thick at the 

 base, of a yellowish red colour, with the nail white. 

 A white patch is extended over the forehead from 

 the base of the bill and corners of the mouth. The 

 rest of the head, neck, and the upper parts of the 

 plumage in some specimens are dark brown, and each 

 feather is margined more or less with that colour ; 

 the primary and secondary quills are of the same, but 

 much darker, and the wing-coverts are ting-od with 

 ash. The breast and belly are dirty white, barred 

 with irregular patches of very dark brown, and tipped 

 with lighter shades of the same colour. The tail is 

 horny ash-coloured brown, and surrounded with white 

 at I he base ; the legs yellow. 



THE RED-BREASTED GOOSE (A. ru/ico//i.i). This 

 is unquestionably an eastern species, and in the 

 British islands it occurs only as a straggler. It is 

 one of the most beautiful of the whole genus, both in 

 its figure and in the markings of its plumage. It is 

 above twenty inches in length, and about three feet 

 ten inches in breadth. The bill is short, and of a 

 brown colour ; the nail is black ; irides yellowish 

 hazel ; the cheeks and front dusky, speckled with 



