Grey- Lag Goose 41 



fronts kept in confinement, which should not cause surprise if we bear in mind what 

 unexpected and yet undoubted crosses are met with between ducks of different breeds. 



In conclusion, I venture to state that I find a great analogy between the grey-lag and 

 the other geese on the one hand, and the mallard and the other ducks of Eastern Europe 

 on the other. 



Thus, the geographical distribution of the grey-lag and that of the mallard in Russia 

 are very similar. Both birds only in rare cases pass the Arctic circle to breed ; both are 

 found nesting almost throughout the whole of the Russian territory, and breed everywhere 

 down to the southern boundary of their range ; and, finally, the two are respectively the 

 wild ancestors of our domesticated geese and ducks. 



Mr. F. Coburn, in his article in the Zoologist for February 1903, p. 46, when 

 endeavouring to prove that Anser rubrirostris, Swinhoe, is a distinct species, and that this 

 bird strays to Great Britain, is scarcely convincing ; and I think I have made quite clear in 

 the present section that this so-called species has no existence. 



