6 



day, they may be most readily obtained by lying in wait for them. If once fired at, the flock 

 generally leaves the neighbourhood altogether." Von Heuglin says that it visits Egypt regularly in 

 the winter season, but he is unable to state the exact time at which it arrives. He saw numerous 

 flocks in February and up to the middle of March passing northwards through Assouan. He 

 surmises that it scarcely crosses the equator. Dr. Adams speaks of it (Ibis, 1864, p. 33) as being 

 "the most common Goose on the Nile, and usually seen in vast flocks at daybreak, returning to 

 the shallows from feeding all night in the wheat-fields. This species decreases southwards, and 

 is rarely seen beyond the marsh at Edfoo. The young birds have a black line around the base 

 of the bill, and no bars on the breast and belly. The White-fronted and also, seemingly, the 

 Grey Goose were domesticated by the old Egyptians. There is a characteristic delineation in the 

 British Museum, where the steward, in the presence of the owner, is counting Geese and Ducks, 

 whilst their feeders, one after the other, are making their obeisance to their master. The above 

 species appears likewise among the votive offerings on the temples. I especially noted, in the 

 little temple of Amada, in Nubia, a scene of this description. The colouring was still clear, and 

 the markings distinct, in consequence of having been sealed up for many centuries by mud, with 

 which the early Christians bedaubed the walls of the temples, in order to efface all records of the 

 idol-worship of their predecessors, little aware at the same time what delightful pictures they 

 were preserving for future generations." 



To the eastward this Goose occurs right across the continent of Asia. It is met with not 

 uncommonly on the Caspian, but was not observed by Mr. Blanford in Persia; and in India, 

 Dr. Jerdon writes (B. of India, ii. p. 781), it is only known as a winter visitant to the lakes and 

 rivers of the Punjab. In Siberia, however, it is common in the northern districts. Von 

 Middendorff says that it is the commonest species of Goose found breeding on the Taimyr. 

 On the 10th July he found in 74° N. lat. a nest containing two eggs in a depression in the 

 top of a cone-shaped tussock, the eggs being well bedded in down. About this time the birds 

 were commencing to moult, and on the 15th July (O. S.) he observed several flocks which could 

 not fly at all ; but, on the other hand, many did not moult till the 27th July. On the 3rd August 

 they could fly again, though he found one breeding on a rocky islet in the Taimyr lake on the 

 2nd August (O. S.). On the 6th September this Goose was seen in flocks on the south coast of 

 the Sea of Ochotsk. In the spring, he says, the first stragglers appeared on the Boganida in 70° 

 N. lat. on the 14th of April (O. S.), a few days earlier than the Bean-Geese. The Samojedes 

 told him that on the 12th May they saw near the river Nowaja a Goose flying from the north 

 southwards; and on the 19th May during cloudy still weather two Geese passed overhead in 

 72-|° N. lat. flying south. On the 21st May first one Goose, and several hours later two more 

 were seen flying north, the wind:blowing moderately from the south-east. As early as the 27th 

 May, north of the 73° N. lat., several flocks were seen flying restlessly. about ; and on the 3rd 

 June the main body arrived on the Taimyr. Dr. Badde purchased one in the market at Irkutsk ? 

 but did not see any elsewhere during his sojourn in East Siberia; nor does Von Schrenck include 

 it in his work. Mr. Taczanowski states, however (J. f. Orn. 1873, p. 108), that it is rare in 

 Kultuk, but was not unfrequently seen at Irkutsk by Mr. Zebrowski. It is difficult to give the 

 times of migration, as the flocks of Geese which pass Kultuk seldom settle down to rest there on 

 their journey. 



