INDIAN DUCKS AND THEIR ALLIES. 3& 



tl Why there are the Hill Ptarmigan I" I regret to say that his de- 

 scription, as given to me, contained only two points which referred to 

 the pigeons, i.e., their colour and their feathered toes, the rest was the 

 result of a fertile imagination, a desire to please, and the knowledge, he 

 being a good sportsman, of what a Hill Ptarmigan should look like. 



The same man ate with relish some fine specimens of the Naga 

 Hills Partridge, Arboricola rufogidaris, and left me the wings and a 

 few feathers to weep over. However partridges and ptarmigan are 

 not geese, and I must stray no further. 



The other recorded Indian specimens are : two shot and one 

 other seen by Captain Irby in Oudh ; others seen. Hume does not say 

 how many obtained by Mr. A. Anderson near Hurdui in Oudh and at 

 Futtehpur in the N.-W. Provinces ; one procured by Dr. Bonaria near 

 Luoknow, and, finally, three shot by Mr. Chill some 30 miles south of 

 Delhi. 



It breeds in Lapland, laying 5 to 8 eggs, in the usual form of nest. 

 The eggs are said to be a dull creamy white in colour, of a broad, 

 regular oval shape, glossless texture, and to measure about 2*9" by 2". 



Anser fabilis. 



Anser fabilis. — The Bean goose. 



Anser segetum. Hume and Marshall, a Game Birds," III, p. 68 ; Sal- 

 vadori, " Cat. B. of B. Museum," XXVII, p. 99. This must, I fear, be 

 struck out of our list of Indian geese. Since Hume's u Game Birds" 

 came out there has been no confirmation of the numerous rumours of the 

 Bean goose being found in India. Anser Serrirostris, the larger or Eastern 

 Bean goose, is more likely to be found within our limits than is the true 

 Bean goose, A. fabilis, or as it is, and I think will continue to be, better 

 known A. segetum. 



13. Anser brachyrhynchus. 

 The Pink-footed Goose. 



Anser brachyrhynchus. Hume, " Str. Feath.," VIII, p. 114 ; Hume 

 No. 946; Hume and Marshall, "Game Birds," III, p. 71 j McLeod 

 " Str. Feath.," X, p. 168; Salvadori, "Cat.B. of B. Museum," XXVIl' 

 p. 103. 



Adult Male. — Feathers at the base of the upper mandible white the 

 white very small in extent and not always present. Head and neck 

 greyish-brown ; back and scapularies dark greyish-brown with the 



