416 ANATIDJE. 



on the ground, and line them with down ; the eggs, 6 to 12 in 

 number, are yellowish white. 



Of the 8 or 9 species known, five have hitherto been obtained in 

 India. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Tip (nail) of upper mandible white or 



whitish. 



a'. No white on forehead A. ferus, p. 410. 



b'. A white frontal band. 



a". Frontal band not extending b^ck to 



between eyes ; bill from gape 2 A. albifrons, p. 417. 



b". Frontal band extending back to between 



eyes ; bill from gape 1*4 A. erythropus, p. 418. 



b. Tip of upper mandible black. [p. 418. 

 c'. Head and neck dark brown A. brachyrhynchus , 



Head white, with black bars and nap A. indicus, p. 419. 



1579. Anser ferus. The Grey Lag Goose. 



Anser ferus, Schaeff. Mus. Orn. p. 67 (1789) ; Adams, P. Z. S. 1859, 

 p. 189. 



Anser cinereus, Meyer fy Wolf, Taschenb.ii,^. 552 (1810) ; Blyth, Cat. 

 p. 300; Jerdon, B.I. iii, p. 779; Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 174; Hume, 

 S. F. i, p. 258 ; Butler f Hume, S. F. iv, p. 26 ; Ball, S. F. vii, 

 p. 231 ; Hume, ibid. p. 491 ; id. Cat. no. 945 ; id. S. F. viii, pp. 408, 

 421 ; Hume fy Marsh. Game B. iii, p. 55, pi. ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. 

 p. 1072, note ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 78 ; Butler, ibid. p. 163 ; Eden, ibid. 

 p. 163; Taylor, ibid. p. 531; Hume $ Cripps, S. F. xi, p. 339 ; 

 Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 394. 



Anser rubrirostris, Hodgs., G. R. Gray, Cat. Mamm. etc. Coll. 

 Hodgson, p. 144 (descr. nulla) ; Salvadori, Cat. B. M. xxvii, p. 91. 



The Grey Goose, Jerdon ; Sona, Kurria-Sona, Hans, Rdj-hdns, H. ; 

 Kallauk ?, Kdr-hdns, Bhagulpur ; Moyala, Mogala-battak, Nepal Terai ; 

 Kangnai, Manipur. 



Coloration. Head, neck, and upper back brown ; scapulars, 

 tertiaries, and some of the median wing-coverts darker brown with 

 pale edges ; lower back and rump ashy grey, brownish grey in 

 younger birds ; upper tail-coverts white ; outer two or three pairs 

 of tail-feathers white, middle pairs greyish brown with white 

 edges and tips ; all outer wing-coverts near the edge of the 

 wing, primary-coverts, wing-lining, and axillaries ashy grey ; 

 primaries grey at base, blackish brown towards the tip ; second- 

 aries blackish brown, all shafts of quills white ; lower parts from 

 neck greyish or brownish white, more or less blotched on abdomen 

 in old birds with blackish brown ; sides and flanks greyish brown, 

 with pale edges to the feathers, producing bars. 



Bill, legs, and feet from creamy white to flesh-coloured, some- 

 times even purplish red: irides brown (Hume). 



Length 32 ; tail 6 ; wing 18 ; tarsus 3-1 ; bill from gape 2'75. 

 Females run smaller. 



Distribution. This Goose breeds in Europe north of about 50 

 lat., and in Central Asia and Southern Siberia, and migrates in 



