THE TRUE GEESE. 235 



having no white outer tail-feathers ; the flanks greyer and not 

 so marked with brown ; the grey of the wings, as well as of the 

 lower back and rump, rather lighter than in A.fabalis. It is, 

 however, easily distinguished from that species by its pink feet 

 and by the pink band on the bill. Total length, 26*0 inches; 

 culmen, i'8; wing, i6'5 ; tail, 5*4; tarsus, 3*0. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but smaller. Total length, 

 25-0 inches ; wing, i6'2. 



Range in Great Britain. In autumn and winter considerable 

 flocks of this Goose are observed on the east coast of Scotland 

 and England, and at Holkham in Norfolk, where protection is 

 afforded by the Earl of Leicester to the wild-fowl, numbers 

 of these Geese may be seen in the autumn. The species is 

 not often recorded from the south or the west of England, but 

 it visits the west of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, and has 

 only once been recorded from Ireland. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Pink-footed Goose is 

 known to breed in Iceland and in Spitsbergen, and is probably 

 the species noticed by Mr. Leigh Smith on Franz-Josef Land, 

 but on Novaya Zemlya only the Bean-Goose was observed by 

 Admiral Markham. It has not been proved to breed in Scan- 

 dinavia, and its distribution in winter in Northern Europe is 

 also not thoroughly understood, though it has been procured 

 in Holland, in Belgium, and in France. 



Habits. This species appears to be exceedingly shy, wherever 

 it occurs, whether during the breeding-season or during the 

 winter, but very little has been recorded of the nesting-habits 

 of the Pink-footed Goose. In Spitsbergen it is said to nest 

 mostly on the low rocks near the coast, and Mr. Chapman 

 found young birds and moulted feathers in such situations, but 

 the species is also believed to nest in the high cliffs a mile or 

 two from the sea, according to Messrs. Evans and Sturge. 



In its summer home the Pink-footed Goose has much 

 the same habits as its close relation the Bean-Goose. In 

 winter, when it visits us in England, it is found feeding in the 

 stubble-fields, but as the tide falls the birds betake themselves 

 to their favourite sand-banks and rest well away from danger. 

 This is certainly the case with the Geese at Holkham, for, 



