418 ANATIDJE. 



where this species is common, the Caspian, and China. This Goose 

 is a rare cold-weather visitor to the Punjab, Sind, Catch, Bohil- 

 khand, and Oudh, usually occurring on rivers, singly or in parties of 

 two or three. 1 saw single geese of a small dark species, probably 

 the present, swimming on the Indus near Sehwan, as late as the 

 first week in April. Hume was informed by Col. Graham that 

 A. albifrons is found throughout Assam ; and Gates has recently 

 ascertained that it has been shot in Upper Burma. 



1581. Anser erythropus. The Dwarf Goose or Lesser 

 White-fronted Goose. 



Anas erythropus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 197 (1760). 



Anser minutus, Naum. Vog. Deutschl. xi, p. 365, pi. 290 (1842) ; 



Irby, Ibis, 186], p. 247 ; Hume, Cat. no. 948 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 79. 

 Anser erythropus, Newton, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 339; Jerdan, B. I. iii, 



p. 781 ; Hume, S. F. viii, p. 421 ; Hume $ Marsh. Game B. iii, 



p. 77, pi. ; Salvadori, Cat. B. M. xxvii, p. 97. 



Very similar to A. albifrons, but smaller, with a much smaller 

 "bill. The plumage is generally darker, and the white of the fore- 

 head extends to the top of the head between the eyes. The 

 coloration of the soft parts appears to be the same in the two species. 



Length 21 ; tail 4 ; wing 14-5 ; tarsus 2-4 ; bill from gape 1-4. 



Distribution. Similar to that of A. albifrons, but more Eastern, 

 this species being rare in Western Europe and the Mediterranean 

 .-and common in China. It is a very rare cold-weather immigrant in 

 Northern India, but specimens have been obtained by Col. Trby, 

 Mr. A. Anderson, Dr. Bonavia, and Mr. Chill in the Eastern 

 Punjab near Delhi, in the North-west Provinces, and in Oudh. 



1582. Anser brachyrhynchus (?). The Pink-footed Goose. 



Anser brachyrhynchus, Baillon, Mem. Soc. R. d'Abbev. 1833, p. 74 ; 

 Blyth, Cat. p. 301 ; Irby, Ibis, 1861, p. 247 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, 

 p. 780 ; Hume, Cat. no. 946 ; Hume 8f Marsh. Game B. iii, p. 71, 

 pi. ; McLeod, S. F. x, p. 168 ; Hume, S. F. xi, p. 339 ; Salvador*, 

 Cat. B. xxvii, p. 103. 



Coloration. Head and neck brown, with a few whitish feathers 

 at the base of the bill; back and wings greyer, the feathers with 

 pale borders ; rump blackish grey ; primaries dark grey, blackish 

 at the tip ; secondaries blackish ; breast whity-brown, the sides 

 darker, with pale bands formed by the tips of the feathers ; 

 abdomen paler ; lower abdomen, flanks, and under and upper tail- 

 coverts white; tail-feathers dark brownish grey, with broad white 

 edges and tips on the outer feathers, diminishing on the middle 

 rectrices. 



Bill black at the base, and the nail black, intermediate portion 

 pink ; irides brown ; legs fleshy to purplish pink, sometimes with an 

 orange tinge. 



Length 28 ; tail 5-25 ; wing 16 : tarsus 3 ; bill from gape 2. 



Distribution. This Goose breeds in the extreme North of Europe 

 and migrates, chiefly to Western Europe, in the winter. The 

 occurrence of A. brachyrhynchus in India has been repeatedly 



