138 LITTLE AVIIITE-FRONTED GOOSE. 



Fj<pll-gafs, Ov TnE Swedes. 



Finmarlce-(jaas, Of the Finns. 



Dwarf' Goose, Of English Weitebs. 



Specific Characters. — Beak orange, and very small; primaries 

 grey, tipped with black, the shafts white; secondaries and tail 

 quills blackish, the latter bordered with white. Length twenty-two 

 inches. 



We are indebted to Mr. Alfred Newton, in an able 

 paper read to the Zoological Society on the 26th. of 

 June, 1860, and reprinted in the "Ibis" of that year, 

 for clearing up the confusion which existed in the 

 nomenclature of this bird. In this paper Mr. Newton 

 clearly establishes the fact that the Little White-fronted 

 Goose is the true Anas erythropus of Linnaeus, (Syst. 

 Nat., ed. 10, p. 123, No. 7,) and the Anser cinerea 

 fronte-alha, No. 92 of the "Fauna Suecica," published 

 in 1746. 



This name, Anser erythropus, has been applied by 

 most modern ornithologists to the Greater White-fronted 

 Goose, (Anser alhifrons,) and by Pennant, Latham, 

 and others to the Barnicle (which has black feet) as 

 well. I trust, however, that in all future histories of 

 these birds the synonyme will be omitted, and the 

 specific name erythropus applied solely to the subject 

 of the present notice. 



Mr. Newton's paper being reprinted in the "Ibis," I 

 shall merely here give a resume of the arguments 

 by which the above facts have been established. It 

 appears that the late lamented Mr. Wolley was only 

 able to find in all his researches in Lapland, two 

 species of Wild Goose inhabiting that extensive district. 

 These Geese were known to the Finns as the "Isohani" 

 or Great Goose, and the "Killio-hani" or Mountain 



