WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 129 



the Hon. T. L. Powys tells me. It used to be a winter 

 visitor to the fens in Cambridgeshire, varying in numbers 

 according to the comparative mildness or severity of the 

 season. In Norfolk several occurred near Lynn, towards the 

 end of January, 1852. They were unusually common there 

 in the beginning of 1854, and are met with annually in 

 the spring and winter. Breydon, near Yarmouth, is also a 

 locality. Specimens are procured near Doncaster and Sheffield 

 in severe weather, and considerable numbers occasionally about 

 Sutton-on-Derwent, near York, though by no means as regular 

 visitants. They are not uncommon at Walton Park, and 

 one was met with near Barnsley: in hard winters some 

 occur near Burlington. 



In Cornwall six were 'seen on Looe Kiver, Helford, December 

 19th., 1849, and two shot on the 26th. of the same month. 

 In Derbyshire, individuals have occurred by the Trent, in 

 hard weather. The like remark has to be made of Oxfordshire, 

 where small flocks are occasionally seen, but only in the 

 severest seasons. 



In Scotland it is a rare winter visitor in Sutherlandshire. 

 It visits Orkney also at the same season. 



In Ireland two occurred near Waterford, in February, 1848. 



They begin to move northwards by the end of February 

 or the beginning of March, few being ever seen after the 

 middle of that month, and return southwards early in 

 September. 



These birds have been kept in the gardens of the Zoological 

 Society, and have reared their young, towards whom they 

 exhibited great attachment. They have also similarly been 

 preserved elsewhere, and appear to do well. In their wild 

 state they collect at times in very large flocks, and associate, 

 to a certain extent, with those of other species of their family, 

 though not with any great intimacy. They seem naturally 

 to resort more to streams and water sides than to the open 

 country, as the other kinds. They are esteemed for the table, 

 and when young are easily tamed. 



They fly strong and well, and on going any distance keep 

 in single line; they walk about, too, in a rather graceful 

 manner with quickness and ease. 



They feed on clover, turnip leaves, and those of other 

 vegetables, both marine and inland, and corn; beetles and their 

 larvae, and other insects, with which they also swallow some 

 gravel in aid of digestion. 



VOL. vi. K 



