60 ANATID^E 



handsomely marked with transverse black bars which vary 

 greatly in amount, some individuals having the under-parts 

 entirely black. 



Adult female nuptial. The black on the breast is less 

 conspicuous than in the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. Similar to the nuptial 

 plumage. 



Immature, male and female. Breast-bars, and white at 

 the base of the beak absent ; rest of the plumage darkish- 

 brown. In young males the breast-bars are sometimes 

 traceable. 



BEAK. Orange- yellow, tipped with a white 'nail.' 



FEET. Orange-colour ; toe-nails, horn-colour. 



IRIDES. Dark brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH 27 in. 



WING 16 



BEAK 2 



TARSO-METATAESUS ... ... 2" 5 ,, 



EGG 3x2 in. 



Allied Species and Representative Forms. A smaller 

 form, the Lesser White - fronted Goose, A. erytliropus, 

 with darker plumage, breeds in Scandinavia ; while a large 

 variety, A. gambeli, with very distinct black bars on the 

 breast, and more black on the abdomen and flanks than 

 our bird, nests in Arctic America, including Greenland. 



BEAN-GOOSE. Anser segetum (J. F. Gmelin). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 2 ; Dresser, ' Birds of Europe,' vol. vi, pi. 412 ; Lilford, 

 'Coloured Figures,' vol. vii, pi. 22; Alpheraky, 'Geese 

 of Europe and Asia,' pi. 11. 



This Goose is, in all probability, the most numerous 

 of the ' Grey ' Geese which visit our Isles, although as 

 already mentioned, the White-fronted and Grey Lag are 

 more often met with in Ireland ; the Bean-Goose is scarcer 

 in Scotland than elsewhere in the British Isles. It arrives 

 on our shores in autumn and leaves in spring. Owing to 

 its extreme wariness, it is rather difficult to identify in its 



