28 



Geese of Europe and Asia 



Dimensions of Adult Birds of Both Sexes 



Total length 



Expanse 



Wing . 



Culmen 



Bill from gape 



Depth of both mandibles at base 



Greatest depth of lower mandible with shut bill 



Tarsus ...... 



762-889 mm. (= 30-35 in.). 

 1422-1778 mm. ( = 56-70 in.). 

 398-482 mm. (= 15.75-19 in.). 

 61-71. 5 mm. ( = 2.4-2.8 in.). 

 64-76 mm. ( = 2.5-3 ш 0- 

 37-37.5 mm. (=1.45-1.47 in.). 

 10-10. 5 mm. ( = .40 in.). 1 

 64-81.5 mm. ( = 2.5-3.2 in.). 



Weight from 5 lbs. 12 oz. to 12 lbs. and, exceptionally, in some European specimens, 

 іб^ lbs. (according to Naumann). 



Young Birds 



On the whole, darker-coloured than adults, and without black bars on abdomen. Bill 

 either very light flesh-colour or even yellowish green, with here and there a faint pink hue, as 

 for example, at the edges of the upper mandible. White feathers along base of bill entirely 

 absent. Brownish black spots do not appear on the abdomen, and then scantily, before the 

 age of 2 years. Grey-lag geese attain fully adult dress not earlier at any rate than the age of 

 4 years. In young birds, feet and legs usually of same colour as bill, often pale yellowish 

 green. 



Young in Down 



Upper part of body olive-brown ; forehead, sides of head, hind-neck, part of breast, 

 and flanks greenish yellow ; rest of under-surface yellowish white. Bill and feet pale fleshy, 

 but perhaps sometimes more vivid flesh-colour. 



Here I may quote certain information supplied by Mr. A. O. Hume on the degree of 

 individual variations in this species, information which, although pertaining exclusively to 

 birds obtained in India, nevertheless should be applicable to European, and, especially, 

 to Siberian representatives of this goose, the more so that some of these latter undoubtedly 

 winter in India. 



"The plumage of our birds," writes this excellent observer, "varies a good deal. In 

 some, which I take to be the young, the lower breast and the whole abdomen to vent are 

 pure white ; in many they are strongly tinged with sandy or orange ; in others very thickly 

 and conspicuously mottled with brownish black. The head and neck vary from pale ashy 

 or earthy brown to dark clove-brown ; in most there is a mingled white and orange patch 

 on the forehead. 2 In some there is a similar spot at the base of the upper mandible on 

 each side, just above the gape. Often, in birds killed just before they leave us in March or 

 April, most of the feathers of the head and cheeks are obscurely tipped with orange, and 

 traces of this are seen on the whole neck. I note that most of our birds have a tiny patch 

 of white on the centre of the chin. 



" In some specimens the breast and abdomen are so closely blotched and mottled 

 with black or blackish brown, and pale rusty buff (the former predominating), as to leave no 

 other colour visible. The black markings will sometimes continue to within an inch of the 

 vent, the pale rusty colour to 2\ inches beyond this. In some specimens the gathering of the 

 feathers of the upper neck into parallel longitudinal ridges is most marked ; in others it is 



1 This measurement is based on an insufficient number of specimens, and therefore can hardly be considered as the maximum. 



2 This will be the white rusty or bright rusty streak at the base of the bill which Radde speaks of, and which was taken by some 

 authors for a bright-red base of the bill. 



