S58 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XT. 



young a pale dirty yellow tending towards orange ; in the old a 

 lively orange-yellow or almost orange-red. The claws are pale brown 

 colour, dark brown towards the tips " (Naumaun). 



Young. — These are less marked with black on the lower parts, often 

 not at all, and the white on the forehead is absent. This seems to appear 

 first in the spring of the first year and increases gradually with age, 

 probably not reaching its full width until about the third year. 



This little goose is found in the greater part of Northern Europe, but 

 not to the west as far as Great Britain, in Lapland eastwards, Siberia 

 and Northern China. In the cold weather it is found in Western 

 Europe, Turkey, Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, Northern India, 

 China and Japan. 



In India it has been but rarely recorded, and I can find few notes 

 of its occurrence since the publication of " Game Birds." Blanford in 

 " Eastern Persia," II, p. 303, records Anser erythropus from Persia, 

 and in a foot-note he says : — 



" One goose at least is very common in Persia. Many couple remain 

 to breed in the reeds round the little lake of Dashtiarjan and the marshes 

 near Shiraj, whence goslings are often brought into the town. I have 

 never seen them in mature plumage, nor been able to shoot an old bird, 

 so cannot say to what species they belong." 



I was told by a correspondent in Cashmere that he had shot fotar 

 geese there this year, which were of this species. Mr. H. E. James in 

 the lecture, part of which was given in No. 2, Vol. VIII of our Journal, 

 says: " A friend at Sukkur, last year, shot the very rare Anser erythro- 

 pus, the White-fronted goose, and ate it." I conclude that Anser 

 erythro pus is correctly given, and that it is only the trivial name which 

 is not the one by which we generally know the Dwarf goose, 



I am afraid a very large number of birds, which should be skinned 

 and preserved, are plucked and eaten. Only two years ago a friend of 

 mine, who knew how very keen I was on ornithology, informed me, 

 with great glee, that he had been having a feed on some "Hill 

 Ptarmigan." He described a bird of that family most minutely, and I 

 thought he must have got hold of something really good, and I offered 

 fabulous prices to any Naga who would produce some of these birds 

 for my inspection. Of course they never came, but eventually my 

 friend, seeing me handling some Imperial pigeons, suddenly exclaimed 



