THE BIRDS OF MONGOLIA ETC. 97 



256. Anser indicus, Lath. Gus indeyskey. 



Gould, Cent, of Birds, pi. Ixxx. 



Anser skorniakowi, Sev. Vert, i gor. raspr. Turk. Jev. pi. x. fig. 4. 



We found this beautiful Goose at Lake Koko-nor, where the first 

 migrants appeared on the 6th of March ; and in the course of the whole 

 month small flocks of from five to twelve in number are to be seen frequently. 

 Also at the sources of the river Tetunga we saw some A. indicus, w^hich were 

 breeding there ; and a female Avhich we killed on the 6th of April was already 

 laying. 



The voice of the present species is diff^erent from that of A. cinereus, 

 which two only are found at Koko-nor. In spring the male chases 

 the female on the wing, and occasionally makes peculiar darts, resembling 

 those of our common Raven ; and when the female is shot, the male usually 

 flies long about its dead mate, until it shares the same fate. 



This Goose is also very curious ; and I several times shot it by 

 performing the following manoeuvre : — As soon as I noticed a pair flying I 

 at once lay down on the ground and commenced waving my hat at them. 

 The Geese came usually quite close to me then. Altogether it is very tame ; 

 but when pursued much by men it gets very shy. 



As far as we can judge from our observations, the northern limit of the 

 distribution of this bird is formed by the Koko-nor basin and the river 

 Tetunga ; and the same localities are probably also the eastern boundary, as 

 this species does not occur in China proper. 



257. Anser cygnoides, Pall. 



Temm. & Schleg. Faun. Jap. pi. xxxi. 



We met with a few birds at Dalai-nor in April, and in the Hoang-ho 

 valley and at Lake Tsaidemin-nor in summer, young as well as adult birds ; 

 the latter were moulting. In crossing the Gobi desert at the end of August 



VOL. III. p 



