37 3 



now in my possession. The second nest was obtained at Mittelhook, in the same Sound, on the 

 10th July; and the Doctor kindly presented me with a pair of its eggs. Messrs. Sturge and 

 Evans also gave me one of the eggs they took in 1855. I have thus four very satisfactory 

 examples of this egg, which is so extremely difficult to procure authenticated. They vary very 

 considerably both in size and shape. According to Dr. Malmgren, the species also occurs in 

 Hinlopen Strait and the Stor Fjord." Von Heuglin and other travellers who have visited Novaya 

 Zemlya have met with a Goose there which, judging from Von Heuglin's description, appears to 

 be referable to the present species, and which is common on that island. 



In Sweden this Goose is said to be of rare occurrence, but probably through want of care 

 on the part of observers. One which was figured in the Jagareforb. Tidsk. for 1866 is said to 

 have been obtained on the island of Tjorn, off Bohuslan, on the 24th October 1851 ; and Mr. A. 

 Cnattingius shot two (Sv. Jagareforb. Tidsk. 1868, p. 123) on the 11th October 1866. Professor 

 Malmgren, in an excellent paper on the Geese of Scandinavia, says that the present species has 

 not been observed in, or at least has not been recorded from, Finland ; but Von Middendorff 

 states that one was obtained near St. Petersburg. Dr. Palrnen (Finl. Fogl. ii. p. 339) includes 

 not only the present species but also another under the name of Anser rufescens, which, he says, 

 is the Goose found in Novaya Zemlya, and which he identifies with Naumann's Anser segetum- 

 I have unfortunately been unable to examine a sufficiently large series of Geese to decide what 

 this Novaya-Zemlyan species is ; but I have little hesitation in uniting it with the Pink-footed 

 Goose, as Von Heuglin gives a very careful description of it. I find but little information 

 respecting its occurrence in Russia, where it may very possibly have been overlooked or mistaken 

 for one of its allies. 



Mr. Taczanowsky includes two species of Geese under the names of Anser arvensis and 

 Anser segetum as occurring in Poland on passage, one of which may probably be the present 

 species. In Germany the present species is found on passage and in winter, but has been greatly 

 confounded with the Bean-Goose. There appears but little doubt that it is the Anser segetum of 

 Naumann, and his Anser arvensis is the true Bean-Goose. I cannot with certainty say any thing 

 respecting its occurrence in Denmark ; but it appears to me from Mr. Collins's description (Skand. 

 Fugl. p. 641), that his Anser segetum must be this species ; and Mr. Benson writes to me as 

 follows: — "Anser segetum, which is often confused with Anser arvensis, but which seems to be 

 a more boreal species and a smaller bird, is found on passage in Jutland. It is rarer on the 

 islands ; but as it has been so generally confused with the Bean-Goose, it is difficult to give 

 detailed particulars as to its occurrence. A specimen shot in 1876 at Thorshavn, in the Fseroes, 

 seems to be very close to the Anser brachyrhynchus of Spitzbergen." 



According to Professor Schlegel the Pink-footed Goose is obtained now and again in 

 Holland on passage ; and the same may be said respecting its presence in Belgium and France. 

 Occasionally individuals are exposed for sale in the market at Dunkirk ; and it has been recorded 

 from other localities in the north of France ; but it does not, so far as is known, range as far 

 south as the Mediterranean, though it is by no means improbable that it may be found there ; 

 for it seems to me that the species included by Dr. Fritsch (J. f. O. 1872, p. 368) under the 

 name of Anser segetum, as occurring in the autumn in large numbers in Bohemia, may probably 

 prove to be the Pink-footed Goose. 



