BIRDS OF THE HUMBER DISTRICT. 149 



large flocks come inland with wonderful regularity 

 at daybreak to their favourite feeding-grounds on the 

 Lincolnshire and Yorkshire Wolds, returning at dusk 

 towards the coast. In fine still weather they fly at a 

 great height, but on wild stormy mornings often 

 within gunshot. I have rarely met with them during 

 the day, except in extremely severe weather, either on 

 our mud-flats or the adjoining marshes. 



The name of our common Wild Goose is undoubt- 

 edly derived from the circumstance of the autumn 

 migration occurring towards the close of the bean 

 harvest ; under the old system of agriculture a large 

 breadth of land was sown with beans, the rotation 

 being fallow, wheat, beans, fallow, and so on. The 

 beans were cut late in the autumn ; and in wet and 

 backward seasons there was always a considerable 

 loss by the opening of the pods and shedding of the 

 beans. The Geese, I am told, used to come at this 

 time in large flocks to feed on the scattered beans ; 

 hence the name Bean-Goose. 



I have observed that the bill in this species varies 

 much in size, occasionally in young birds little ex- 

 ceeding in length that of the Short-billed or Pink- 

 footed Goose. 



199. ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS, Baillon. Pink- 

 footed Goose. 



Occurs occasionally, but never in such large flocks 



