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FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS. 



The genus is represented by some twenty species, ranging over the cold and 

 temperate regions of the globe, but becoming almost cosmopolitan in the winter. 

 Of these the typical member is the grey-lag goose {A. cinereus), which is probably 

 the parent form of the domesticated breeds, and is the only species wliich nests in 

 the British Islands. It is characterised by the white or whitish nail on the beak ; 

 by the remainder of the beak, together with the feet, being usually flesh-coloured, 

 although liable to vary from creamy white to purplish red ; while the wing-coverts 

 and rump are slaty grey. In length, the male measures about 35, and the female 

 30 inches. Breeding at the present day in the British Islands only, in the north 

 ^^ of Scotland and Ireland, the grey- 



lag goose ranges all over Europe 

 and North and Central Asia as far 

 east as Amurland, while in winter 

 it spreads over Southern China 

 and Upper India. The white- 

 fronted goose (A. albifrons), of 

 which there is a larger and a 

 smaller variety, is another British 

 species, although only a winter 

 visitant, also found in India during 

 the cold season. It is a much 

 smaller form than the preceding, 

 the length of the larger race only 

 reaching 27 inches, while in the 

 smaller it varies from 24 to 20. 

 The beak is generally orange- 

 yellow, with a white nail ; the feet 

 being likewise of the former hue ; 

 while the forehead is characterised 

 by the presence of . a variable 

 amount of white feathers at the 

 base of the beak ; and the plumage 

 of the breast is much mottled in the adult with brownish black. The Old 

 World distribution of this species is very similar to that of the last ; but it is found 

 during winter in North-Eastem Africa, while it also occurs in Greenland, and is 

 represented in the rest of North America by a variety (A. gambeli). The 

 smaller form is often termed the dwarf goose. Agreeing nearly in size with 

 the grey-lag goose, the bean-goose (A. segetum) — another well-known British 

 species — may be readily distinguished by the black nail of the beak ; the middle 

 portion of the beak being orange-yellow, and its base black ; while the legs and 

 feet are also orange-yellow or orange. This species also ranges over the greater 

 part of the northern half of the Old World, occurring during the winter in 

 Britain, the shores of the Mediterranean, India, and Japan. It is, however, 

 essentially a northern form, only breeding in Scandinavia to the north of latitude 

 64°, and in Siberia on the tundras near lakes and pools beyond or near the limits 

 of forest. The pink-footed goose (A brachyrhynchus) is a closely allied smaller 



WHITB-FBONTED GOOSE. 



