INDIAN BUCKS AND TBE1R ALLIES. 3GI 



^s regards its breeding habits there seems to be little on record beyond' 

 Dresser's notes, he says : — "Of its breeding habits but little, comparative- 

 ly speaking, is known, and it is only known to breed with certainty in 

 Iceland and Spitzbergen. Professor Malmgrew, who obtained its eggs 

 in the latter island, says that it is exceedingly wary and shy. In the 

 early summer it is to be seen in small flocks on moss-covered low lands 

 near the sea or on rocky precipices, where there is vegetation here and' 

 there; but in the breeding season it is seen in pairs. When j moulting,' 

 it frequents fresh-water swamps, and later on", when collected in flocks, 

 it is to be met with near the coast." 



" Its nest is placed in prominent situations on high rocks, or platforms 

 on steep cliffs, often close to a river, or in some grass-covered place, and 

 sometimes on high cliffs close to the sea on the inner fiords. The nest 

 is so situated that the bird can have an uninterrupted view from it of the 

 country round, and can readiiy see if an intruder approaches or danger' 

 threatens. Hence it is difficult to shoot this shy bird, even at its nest, for 

 the gander is extremely watchful, and directly any one approaches warns 

 his mate by uttering a clear whistling cry. In June the female lays 

 four or five eggs, which are hatohed about the 10th or 15th July, and 

 both parents assist in taking care of the young. I possess a single egg 

 of this goose, obtained on the Sweedish Expedition to Spitzbergen, which 

 is pure white, resembling the egg of Anser cinereus, but is rather 

 smaller, and the grain of the shell i.s somewhat smoother." 



Morris, " Nests and Eggs of British Birds," says :— -" These birds unite 

 about the middle of May ; Mr. Q. Macquilliriay bas remarked that he 

 saw them in pairs about the middle of the month, and that they had the 

 young fully fledged and strong upon the wing about the end of July. 

 They had again collected into flocks by the beginning of August. The 

 eggs are of a pure white colour. Eight were laid by oDe of these- 

 gee3e, kept in the water in St. James' Park, by the Ornithological Society 

 of London." 



Seebhum, t( Birds of the Japanese Empire", pp. 285, 237, says :<— "The 

 Pink-footed goose was admitted to the Japanese Fauna on the autho- 

 rity of a female obtained in October at Hakodadi by Captain Blakiston 

 (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1875, p. 456). Unfortunately this example cannot be 

 found, and some doubt attaches to the correctness of the identification.'' 

 He goes on to say i "It is possible that this may be an example of a 



