78 INDIAN" DUCKS. 



there ; but in the breeding-?ea>on it is seen in pairs. Wlu-n moulting, 

 it frequents freshwater swamps, and latf^r on. wlien collected in flocks, 

 it is to he met with near tho coast. 



" Its nest is placed in prominent situations on high rocks, or jilatforms 

 on steep cliffs, often close to a river, or in some grass- covered place, and 

 ."sometimes on hish cliffs close to the sea on thf inner fiords. The nest is 

 so situated that the birds can have an uninterrupted view from it of the 

 comitrv round, and can readily see if an intruder a])proaches or danger 

 threatens. Hence it is diflicult to -hoot this >hy bird, even at its nest, 

 for the gander is extremely watchful, and directly anyone approaches 

 warns his mate by uttering a clear whistling cry. In June the female 

 lavs four or five eggs, which are hatched about the Idth or l.^th Jul v. 

 and lioth parents assist in taking care of tlie young. I possess a single 

 egg of this goose, obtained on the Swedish expedition to Spitzbergen, which 

 is pure white, resembles the egg of Ansei' cinerevs, but is rather smalh-r, 

 and the grain of the shell is somewhat smoother."' 



Morris, ' Xests and Eggs oi' Briti>li Birds.' says : — " These birds unite 

 about the middle of 3Iay : Mr. G. Maegillivray has remarked that he 

 .saw them in pairs about the middle of the month, and that they had the 

 young fully fledged and strong upon the wing about the end of July. 

 They had again collected into flocks by tlu- beginning of August. The 

 eggs are of a pure white colour. Eight were laid by one of these geese 

 kept in the water in St. James" Park Ijy the Ornithological Society of 

 London."' 



I liave received several clutche> of this fino goose's eggs from Iceland, 

 two of five each and two of four each, and from Spitzbergen I have received 

 a single ^gg- They are in no way different to the eggs of the Grey Lag 

 Goose, but average considerably smaller, the 19 being, on an average, 

 only 3*0 by 1-08, and the largest only 3-15 X 2*06 inches. 



Seebohm, ' Birds of the Japanese Empire,' pp. 23G-237, says : — " The 

 Pink-footed Goose was admitted to the Japanese fauna on the authority 

 of a female obtained in October at Hakodadi by Captain Blakiston 

 (Swinhoe, ' Ibis,' 1875, p. 45Gj. L'nforttmately this example cannot be 

 found, and some doubt attaches to the correctness of the identification." 

 He goes on to say : '* It is possible that this may be an example of a Pink-" 

 footed Goose, but in the absence of the black base to thf^ bill I am 

 inclined to regard it as the young in first plumage of the White-fronted 

 Goose." 



