4i 



PINI-FOOTED GOOSE. 



ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS, Baillon. 



Anser brachyrliynchus, Baillon, Mem. de la Soc. Roy. d'Em. 

 d'Abbev. 1833, p. 74; Macg. iv. p. 602; Hewitson, ii. 

 p. 386 ; Yurr. ed. 4, iv. p. 270 ; Dresser, vi. p. 369. 



Oie a bee court, French. 



This is decidedly the most common of the " Grey " 

 Geese that visit the eastern districts of England in the 

 autumn and winter, but it was not till 1839 that it was 

 clearly distinguished from its very close congener, the 

 Bean-Goose, in a paper by Mr. A. D. Bartlett, read 

 before the Zoological Society. I may here mention 

 that the most constant and certain external distinctions 

 between this species and the Bean-Goose are the propor- 

 tionate shortness of the bill and the smaller size of the 

 subject of this article ; in fact, I am of opinion that the 

 best English name for this bird would be Short-billed 

 Goose, as the pink colour of the legs and feet is by no 

 means an invariable character. I have seen very large 

 flocks of this species in West Norfolk on various 

 occasions in October, November, and December, and a 

 great inany used to frequent the valley of the Nene in 



