LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



421 



It is extremely likely that other species of true Geese occur 

 in India, especially in Assam. Skins of any such should of 

 course be preserved, however roughly, for examination. 



For instance, according to the Bengal Sporting Magazine of 

 April 1836, page 247, four Geese were seen near Nagpore which 

 can hardly have been anything but Bernicla ruficollis, a true 

 Goose. Length about 20 inches ; wing 14*5. Bill and feet 

 black. A patch on each side of the head, and the whole front 

 of the neck and breast deep brick-red to chestnut (these parts 

 paler and more buffy in females), and the rest of the plumage 

 mingled black and white in males, brown and white in females. 

 Similarly there are two or three other species, the occurrence 

 of which I have reason to suspect ; and, with the co-operation 

 of sportsmen in different parts of the Empire, we should very 

 soon be able to ascertain, conclusively, not only the exact 

 limits within which the known species occur, but also which 

 other, at present unrecorded, species visit us. 



TABLE. 



Name. 



Nail of Bill 



The Gret Tikq. 

 (A. cinereusj) 



The White-eeonted 



Goose. 



(A, alhifrons.) 



Thts Dwabf Goose 

 {A, erythropus.) 



Thb Bean Goose. 



(A. segettim and 



allied subspecies.) 



The Pink-footed 



Goose. 

 {A. brachyrhpiehus.) 



The Baeeed-headed 



Goose. 



(A. indicus.) 



White or 

 whitish. 



White or 

 yellowish 

 white. 



Whitish .. 



Black 



Black 



Blackish or 



black. 



Best of Bill. 



Varies from 

 creamy white, 

 through fleshy 

 pink, to 



dingy livid 

 purplish red. 



Livid iieshy to 

 yellow. in 

 either case 

 with more or 

 less of an 

 orange tinge. 



IJeddish to 



livid fleshy ; 

 ( ? at times 

 yellow, vary- 

 ing to orange ) 



Black, with 

 orange, or 

 orange-yellow 

 in varying 

 proportions. 



Black, with 

 pink, varying 

 to red with a 

 somewhat 

 orange tinge. 



Orange, green- 

 ish towards 

 nostrils. 



Legs and Feet. 



Same as bill 



Bright orange, 

 sometimes 

 tinged red- 

 dish. 



Fleshy red or 

 pink; <? 

 varying to 

 orange.) 



From yellow 

 to orange. 



Pink or 



orange pink, 

 varjdng to 

 fleshy red. 



Bright orange. 



Wing, 



15-75 to 19-0 



15-0 to 17-0 



13-0 toU-l 



16-5 to 19-5 



15-5 tol7-5 



16-0 to 19-0 



Bill at front 



from margia 



of feathers 



to tip of 



nail. 



2-4 to 2-8 



1-7 to 1-9 



1-3 



2-0 to 2-45 



1-65 to 1-85 



1-8 to 2-1 



Allan Hume. 



