226 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male. Total length, 28-0 

 inches ; wing, 16-3. 



Young Birds. Greyish above, the feathers edged with ashy- 

 brown ; the crown of the head and the centre of the back 

 of the neck brown ; forehead and sides of face ashy-white, 

 slightly tinged with yellowish-buff; under surface of body 

 white, greyish on the fore-neck and chest ; the scapulars brown 

 like the back, with ashy bases ; lesser wing-coverts white, 

 powdered with grey; the median and greater coverts ashy- 

 grey, with white edges, the amount of white varying greatly on 

 the latter series ; bastard wing-feathers grey ; primary-coverts 

 and quills as in the adult birds ; the secondaries ashy- brown, 

 edged with white, and having the greater part of the inner 

 webs white; inner secondaries dark slaty-brown, with broad 

 white edges to both webs ; tail-feathers white, powdered with 

 ashy-brown. 



Range in Great Britain. Of accidental occurrence only. The 

 first instance of the capture of this species was made known by 

 Mr. Howard Saunders, who noticed two young Snow-Geese in 

 Leadenhall Market on the gih of November, 1871, and he came 

 at once to tell me of his interesting discovery. We returned 

 forthwith to the market and purchased the pair, and Mr. Saun- 

 ders, having procured from the salesman the name of his corre- 

 spondent, enlisted the aid of the late Sir Victor Brooke, who was 

 then in Ireland, and by this means the clue was followed up, 

 and it was ultimately discovered that the two Geese had been 

 shot a few days previously on til* lake of Tacumshane in Co. 

 Wexford. A third was shot soon after in Wexford Harbour, 

 but was not preserved. In October, 1877, a flock of seven 

 was seen near Belmullet in Co. Mayo, and two were captured. 

 On the 22nd of August, 1884, an adult Snow-Goose was seen 

 by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson on the coast near Allonby in 

 Cumberland. Others have since been noticed in Yorkshire, in 

 1891. 



Range outside the British Islands. The home of this beautiful 

 bird is in the Arctic Regions of North America, but the species 

 probably occurs in Eastern Siberia. It breeds in Western Arc- 

 tic America, and migrates in winter to Japan, and in America 

 down the Mississippi Valley and to Southern California. It has 



