405 



are not given ; the specimen is still preserved in the collection which belonged to the late 

 Mr. Sinclair, of Wick. A third appears to have been seen for several days in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Loch of Strathbeg many years ago, a notice of which was sent to Professor 

 Macgillivray by Kev. Mr. Smith." Thompson (B. of Ireland, iii. p. 64) writes as follows: — 

 "When in Dublin, in March 1833, I was informed by a person, to whom the species was well 

 known, that about five years previously he had seen a specimen in the shop of Mr. Glennon ; on 

 inquiry of whom I learned that the bird had been sent to him in a fresh state to be preserved, 

 but he was not aware where it had been killed. That it was procured on our coast is at least a 

 fair inference." 



There does not appear to be any record of its occurrence in Norway ; and it is an extremely 

 rare straggler to Sweden. Nilsson says that the specimen described by Professor Retzius in his 

 'Fauna Suecica' was taken alive at Lund early in October 1793, and was in immature plumage. 

 An older bird was caught in a ditch on the road-side near Ystad in the late autumn of 1830. 

 '' Many years ago," he adds, " one was shot at Oscarshamn ; and in the spring of 1838 Mr. Ekstrom 

 saw a pair standing on a tussock in a marsh amongst some Mallard on Morko." It has not been 

 recorded from Finland. In Russia in Europe it is, Mr. Sabanaeff informs me, very rare in the 

 central portion. Mr. Martin once met with it near Moscow ; but, according to Bogdanoff and 

 Eversmann, it occurs in small numbers on passage, but not further north than the latitude of 

 Orenburg and Sarepta. Daniloff met with it in the Orloff Government. 



Mr. Jacovleff says that it visits the vicinity of Astrachan every spring, but it is rare ; and 

 Rickbeil speaks of it as being also of very rare occurrence near Sarepta. According to Pallas it 

 is seen late in February or early in March in numbers, together with Anser erythropus, near 

 Astrachan. In Germany, as elsewhere in Europe, it is a rare straggler. Naumann says that 

 some time ago one was obtained on the island of Koos, on the coast of Pomerania, and more 

 recently another was procured at the same place, but that he knows of no instance of its 

 occurrence in Central Germany. He further states that it is said to have been " observed 

 almost every year in small flocks of four or six individuals " at Ulriksholm, and at Kibe, in 

 Denmark ; but Kjaerbolling says merely that, according to Mr. E. Hage, six were shot in 

 Northern Seeland, one of which went to the Museum, and the rest to Germany ; and Teilman 

 once shot it at Ribe. Mr. Benzon informs me that, so far as he can ascertain, only two 

 undoubted Danish-killed specimens are known to exist — one an old male in the collection of 

 Mr. Fischer, which was shot on the 24th October, 1855, at Ouro, in the Isefjord, after having 

 consorted with tame Geese for about eight days ; and a second specimen is in Mr. Benzon's own 

 collection. This latter bird was winged at Omager, on the 25th September, 1862, when in 

 company with a flock of Brent Geese, and was kept for some time alive in the Zoological 

 Gardens. Mr. H. M. Labouchere informs me that some years ago a flock of these Geese was 

 observed in Holland, and several individuals were shot out of it ; and Professor Schlegel states 

 that it is met with in that country from time to time. Messrs. Degland and Gerbe write 

 respecting its occurrence in France as follows : — " M. de Lamotte possesses a specimen shot near 

 Strasbourg ; M. de Lafresnaye obtained one in the market at Caen ; and another, shot near the 

 same town, is in the collection of Dr. Lesauvage ; one shot on the marsh of St. Louis, near 

 Rochefort, in the winter of 1829-30, is in the Museum of that town; and the gamekeeper to 



