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visitant in very small flocks, consisting of at most four or five birds ; I have seen and carefully 



examined specimens in the flesh which have been shot there. On the western mainland it is 



even less common, occurring for the most part singly or in pairs, and mixing with other wild 



geese. In this way it is taken by the lessees of the west-country shootings, and sent to the 



Glasgow poulterers. One or two were killed in the winter of 1867-68 in the Clyde estuary. 



Writing from Newton, in North Uist, Mr. John Macdonald states that the habits of this bird 



differ from those of the Grey-lag, and that he has no difficulty in distinguishing flocks of both 



species when shifting their quarters. ' They arrive here,' says Mr. Macdonald, ' in October and 



November, in small flocks which seldom contain more than thirty birds. When watching their 



movements on the wing, it often occurred to me that they were very undecided, and seemed not 



sure of their course. I have known them go more than a mile, then turn back and afterwards 



take the same course, and this when not disturbed. When they alight they seem to want the 



faculty of knowing, as the Grey-lag does, the most dangerous places. I have seen them in parks 



and enclosures near houses, localities generally avoided by the Grey-lag, except when tempted 



by corn or young clover. I have never noticed any Pink-footed Geese after the month of 



January ; in fact, they then appear to rest here only for about two months, and retire regularly 



to some other attractive habitation. Their call is so different from that of any other geese, that 



there can be no mistake in distinguishing them. They do not associate with the Grey-lag ; but I 



obtained a single specimen which was shot in the midst of a flock of Bernicle Geese.' ' : It may 



very probably be found to visit Ireland, though Thompson states that he knows no instance of 



its occurrence there. 



It has not been met with in Greenland ; but it certainly occurs in Iceland, for Professor A. 

 Newton writes (Ibis, 1864, p. 132) as follows, viz. : — " Mr. Proctor also tells me that he has once 

 or twice received the Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) from Iceland. One of these 

 specimens he lately showed me in the Museum of the University of Durham ; and he assured me 

 that with it were sent some eggs, of which it was stated to have been the mother." 



In Scandinavia this Goose appears to be rare. Mr. Collett writes : — " At the present time 

 it is not proved to a certainty that this species breeds in Norway. The individuals observed by 

 Nordvi in East Finmark, in June 1867, one of which was killed, are supposed by Professor 

 Malmgren, and with good reason, to have been retarded on their annual passage to Spitzbergen 

 or Novaya Zemlya. None of these individuals were preserved. Exclusive of the individual shot 

 near Christiania in the autumn of 1865, two individuals only have been examined of late years; 

 both were killed in the neighbourhood of Trondhjem, in 1871, on the autumn passage." 



It appears that this is the only species of Grey Goose found in Spitzbergen ; for though 

 Anser cinereus was said by several authors to occur there, recent research has proved that in 

 every case the present species was mistaken for the Grey-lag. Professor Newton writes (Ibis, 

 1865, p. 514), it " has been met with in Wide Bay, lat. 79° 35' N., and probably it occurs all 

 along the west coast. It is most numerous in Ice Sound, where, as I have said, Ludwig found a 

 hatched-out nest, with two goslings, about midnight between the 16 th and 17th July. Dr. 

 Malmgren seems to have met with at least two nests in the upper part of the Sound, from both 

 of which he shot the female bird. One of them, killed on the 4th July near Advent Bay, he 

 describes fully in his last paper ; and he gave one of my friends an egg from this nest, which is 



