AXSEK ERYTHROrUS. 73 



(12) ANSER ERYTHROPUS. 

 THE DWAEF GOOSE. 



Anser miniitus, Hume, Sir. Feath. \\n, p. IIJ-; Hume, Cat. no. !J48. 



Anser erythropus, Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 781 ; Hume 4' -1^«''- Game-B. 

 iii, p. 78, p]. 77; Salvadori, Cat. B. 21. xxvii, p. 97; Blanford, Fauna 

 B. I. iv, p. 418; Stuart Baler, Jour. B. N. H. S. xv, p. 524; Oates, 

 Game-B. ii, p. 53. 



Anser finmarchicus, Alpheral-i/, Geese, p. 59. 



Adult male. — Differs from the last bird, Amer albifroiis, in being a good deal 

 smaller, and having the white on the forehead far broader, reaching a line drawn 

 across the head between the eyes ; also in having a decidedly darker rump and 

 generally darker tint to the plumage, especially on the head and neck. 



" Total length about 21 inches, wing 15, tail 4*5, culmen 1'27, tarsus 2-4 " 

 (Salvadori). " Length 19'5 to 21 inches, wing 13 to 14*1, tail 2*85 to 3-25, 

 tarsus 2'3 to 2*4 " (Hume). 



The female is yet smaller than the male ; wing about 13-3 inches (Salvadori). 



" The colour of the bill is in the young, before the first autumn moult, a 

 reddish-grey, the nail blackish ; later this latter becomes a greyish-white, and 

 the bill pale orange-yelloM" ; in old birds the bill is lively reddish-yellow or 

 orange, the nail yellowish-reddish-white. There is never any trace of black upon 

 the bill. 



" The naked edges of the eyelids are dirty yellow in the young, orange in the 

 old ; the irides are dark brown. The feet are in the young a pale dirty yellow 

 tending towards orange ; in the old a lively orange-yellow or almost orange-red. 

 The claws are pale brown colour, darker brown towards the tips." (JSMinnann.) 



In the bird sent to me by Mr. Johnston, and recorded later on in this article, 

 the feet were bright chrome-yellow, and the bill livid green with the nail paler. 

 These colours were recorded after the bird had been dead about 8 hours. 

 Mr. Finn records from three live birds before him, that of the soft parts " the 

 bill is_of a beautiful rose-pink, not orange .... the eyelids are lemon-yellow. In 

 its dark eyes and orange feet, &c." All three of these birds bad the soft parts 

 similarly coloured. According to Alpheraky : " In the Lesser White-fronted 

 Goose the yellow colouring and slightly swollen state of the cerema are 

 extremely characteristic. These swollen eyelids appearing so early (in the first 

 plumage) are of a lemon-yellow colour, forming a complete ring round the eye, 

 which, as we have already seen, is never the case with the White-fronted Goose." 



Young. — Are less marked with black on the lower parts, often not at all, and 

 the white on the forehead is absent. This seems to appear first in the spring of 

 the first year, and increases gradually with age, probably not reaching its full 

 width until about the third year. 



