206 THE BIKDS OF DEVOX. 



Lag Goose in Somerset, nor have we been able to add it to the Somerset 

 ]i.st of birds ; in Cornwall Mr. Ilodd was able to record but three which 

 came to his knowledge, and one of these was obtained on the Scilly 

 Islands ; in Dorsetshire it is equally rare, only one or two examples being 

 known to Mr. Mansel-Pleydfll, who quotes Mr. J. E. Harting's remark 

 as to the Grey Lag Goose being an inland bird, and not a frequenter of, 

 or to be expected on, the coast. 



Bean-Goose. Anser serjctum (Gm.). 



A casual winter visitor. 



This Goose is the commonest of the British Wild Geese, but is one of 

 those to which we have already referred as being more numerous on the 

 Eastern coasts of the kingdom than it is on the West, where it is only 

 occasionally seen. It is, however, far more often met with than the pre- 

 ceding species, and has occurred several times to ourselves. In the hard 

 winter of 18()0 a small flock of Bean-Geese appeared on Lundy Island, 

 where they fed always far out in the middle of one of the stubble-fields, 

 and although we once or twice watched for them, they never came near 

 enough to attbrd a shot. In severe Avinters we have known them to 

 appear on the Braunton Marsh, where examples have been obtained. 



IVrontagu mentions two Devonshire s]ieciniens (Orn. Dirt.). Many were obtained 

 at Plyiiioiith in January IS.'JU (E. M., Trans. Plym. Inst. 183U ; Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, 

 p. .'ioit). Some were seen in Plymouth ilarket in February 1855 by ilr. Gatcoinbe ; 

 some there December 2l^ncl, 1874 ; one in December 1871'; and a few in January 1881 

 (Zool. 1875, p. 4371; 188U, p. 48; 1881, p. IIKJ). Three were shot by Mr. Walter 

 Toll, of Street, on the upper waters of Slapton Ley, on 7th February, 1888. 

 One is in ]\lr. Toll's collection, and was seen by us at bis house, September 2ncl, 18'JU, 

 and one is in the collection of the late ilr. W. Dastard. The third was cooked and 

 paten (R. P. N., MS. Notes). An adult male was shot by Mr. E. A. S. Elliot, December 

 29th, 18UU, on Kingsbridge estuary, and another was seen in company with it. 



In Somerset Bean-Geese occasionally occur on the turf moors, Mr. 

 Cecil Smith saw two at a poulterer's shop in Taunton, in December 18G5, 

 which had just come in, with a numl)er of other wild-fowl, from the fen- 

 shooters. We have ourselves seen Bean-Geese near Weston-super-Mare, 

 and during the severe frost and snow of January 1891 a flock of seven 

 flew low over our garden at Buckland Dinham, in East Somerset. These 

 birds continued about the neighbourhood for a fortnight, but none of 

 them were shot. In Cornwall Mr. Ilodd considered the Bean-Goose the 

 commonest of the Wild Geese visiting the county, and states that in hard 

 winters considerable flocks are seen. Mr. Mansel-Pleydell calls the Bean- 

 Goose far from common in Dorsetshire ; five were shot in Poole Harbour 

 in Xovember 1876. 



The Bean-Goose goes very far north, beyond the Arctic Circle, for its 

 breeding-quarters. 



This Goose takes its name from the black nail on the tip of the upper 

 mandible, which is of the shape of a beau ; or, perhaps, from its making 

 its appearance at the time of the sowing of winter beans. 



