62 INDIAN DUCKS. 



enable sportsmen to discriminate between their specimens, should they be 

 so fortunate as to obtain any of the rarer species. 



Considerable discussion has been carried on in the pages of the 

 ' Bombay Journal ' in regard to the Bean-Geese, between Alpheraky, 

 Buturlin, and Gates, and those who wish to study the question should 

 consult pp. 38, 598, and 950 of vol. xvii. of that journal. 



Anser segetum and Anser ai'vensis are probably western forms, hardly 

 likely to be found within Indian limits ; but as it is within the bounds of 

 possibility that they may be so found, I have included them in the key. 



Carneirostris may or may not be a good species, it may even be 

 Swinhoe's true serrirosfris, but the material available (four specimens) is 

 insufficient to allow this point to be decided. 



As regards A. oatesi, the distinction of this species still also requires 

 further confirmation. 



^1. hrachyrhyncJms may be at once distinguished from all other geese 

 by its grey coverts, and although the first pink-footed goose found by 

 me was undoubtedly of this species, there is no chance of its occurrence 

 being anything but extremely rare in India, and we should expect it in 

 \\\G N.W. rather than in the N.E. On the other hand, there is not the 

 slightest reason wdiy serrirostris, negh'dus, and m'iddendorfji should not be 

 frequently reported within our borders. 



Any sportsman who may obtain a Bean-Goos(% /. e. a goose with a 

 black nail to its bill, should at once forward the whole skin, if possible — 

 if not, the head and neck, — to the Bond)ay Natural History Society for 

 identification. He should note in detail the colorations of the bill and 

 feet immediately he gets it ; antl if the colours of the former change after 

 death should note this also. The lenoth of the wino- should also be added. 



