328 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 which 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- 
SS lag goose ranges all over Europe 
——— SSS 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-Eastern 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. segetwm)—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 












































































































































WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, 

