THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 523 



Dr. Bunge on the islands of New Siberia. If Dresser and Seebohrn 

 are correct in considering this species identical with A. gambeli, its 

 breeding range will also extend to Arctic America. 



318. Lesser White-fronted Goose [ZWERGGANS]. 

 ANSER MINUTUS, Naumann. 1 



Anser minutus. Nuumann, xi. 365. 



Lesser Wliite-fronted Goose. Dresser, vi. 383. 

 Oie naine. Schlegel, Krit. Uebersicht d. Europ. 



Vb'gel, p. ex. 



A young bird of this species, in the first autumn plumage, 

 is among the earliest specimens of my collection, having been 

 obtained nearly fifty years ago. Since that time, no other indivi- 

 dual of this species has either been seen or shot here. 



In the form of the different parts of its body, this species stands 

 in a similar relation to the preceding as A. brachyrhynchus to 

 A. cinereus, Larus leucopterus to L. fjlaucus, or L.fuscus to L. 

 marinus ; that is to say, in the smaller species the body is less 

 compressed than in the larger. The wings are relatively longer, 

 and in the case of the smaller species project far beyond the tip of 

 the tail ; while in the larger species they either do not reach it, or 

 are of equal length with it, or only just project beyond it. Similar 

 relations obtain in the case of Charadrius fulvus and C. auratus, 

 and also in C. hiaticula and C. minor, all of which agree in colour 

 and general marking, but, apart from size, differ particularly in the 

 relations existing between the various parts of the body. When 

 to these differences of measurements and relations of parts we have 

 to add, as in the present case, an entirely different coloration of 

 the bill and feet these being orange in A. minutus, but light 

 flesh-colour in A. albifrons it becomes quite incomprehensible 

 to us how these two species could have been united as one species, 

 as has been attempted by some writers. We may mention, in 

 addition, that in A. albifrons the wings -are of equal length 

 with the tail, whereas in A. minutus the tips of the wings project 

 1-50 in. (38 mm.) beyond the end of the tail ; or, in other words, the 

 first, second, and third flight-feathers extend beyond the tail, 

 while the fourth is the first of the flight-feathers which is equal to 

 the tail. 



Solitary examples of this species are found breeding even as far 

 south as northern Scandinavia, and thence through the whole of 

 the coast-regions of northern Asia as far as Behring's Strait. 



1 Anser erythropu* (Linn.). 



