244 ALLEN'S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



Adult Male. General colour above black, including the 

 centre of the lower back and rump, the sides of the latter 

 being pure white like the upper tail-coverts ; wings and tail 

 black, with greyish white margins to the median and greater 

 coverts ; crown of head and entire hind-neck black, separated 

 by a band of white from the mantle ; sides of face and throat 

 black ; a large loral patch of white ; below the eye a small 

 white spot ; ear-coverts forming a large chestnut patch, en- 

 tirely encircled by white, which skirts the black of the hind- 

 neck in a broad line ; lower throat, fore-neck, and sides of 

 neck bright chestnut, separated from the white on the sides of 

 the neck by a line of black, and again by another line of black 

 across the lower fore-neck, this black line being continuous 

 with the black of the hind-neck ; across the chest a narrow 

 line of white, continuous with the white band across the 

 mantle ; entire breast black, the feathers having white bases ; 

 the entire abdomen and under tail-coverts white, as well as 

 the feathers of the thighs, some of which are black-tipped ; 

 sides of the body white, the lower flanks handsomely banded 

 with black ; axillaries and under wing-coverts black ; bill 

 nearly black ; feet and toes dark brown, nearly black ; iris 

 hazel. Total length, 20 inches; oilmen, i'o; wing, 13*5; 

 tail, 4 '6 ; tarsus, 2-1. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but slightly smaller. 



Young Male Has the same markings as the adult, but the 

 chestnut is much paler and the black is tinged with brown, 

 and the feathers of the upper surface have distinct brown 

 edges, especially on the wing-coverts ; the white bands across 

 the upper mantle and on the lower fore-neck are not so well 

 defined as in the old bird. 



Range in Great Britain. A very rare visitor, of which eight 

 authenticated occurrences are on record, the first dating back 

 to 1776, when a specimen was procured near London, and 

 is still preserved in the Newcastle Museum. Nearly all the 

 occurrences of the species have taken place on the east coast, 

 but Mr. Howard Saunders mentions two in South Devon, and 

 one in Caithness. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Red-breasted Goose 

 breeds in the lower valleys of the Ob and the Yenesei Rivers 



