White-fronted Goose 57 



with Anser anser, and shall again do so in the lesser white-front, Anser finmarchicus. 

 In the grey-lag, the belly, so far as I know, is never wholly black, but in the lesser 

 white-fronted goose this is a very common occurrence. In the same degree as in the latter, 

 this colouring varies also in the white-fronted species, while, so far as the evidence of the 

 material I have examined goes, the greater or smaller amount of black on the belly is not 

 dependent on the size of the bill, nor on that of the bird. Accordingly, I cannot regard 

 this character as sufficient evidence for assigning the British large-billed A. albifrons to the 

 American race, A. albifrons gambeli. 



As regards length of bill, the dimensions given by Mr. Coburn, although very large, 

 yet, with the exception of one case, viz. a bill 2 inches ( = 51 mm.) long, do not exceed the 

 size of the bills of Russian birds. In regard, however, to the colouring of the bill, the bright 

 orange-red colour given by Mr. Coburn does not at all agree with the descriptions known 

 to me of the bill of Anser albifrons gambeli, in which, as American authors describe it, the 

 bill is milk-white, while the terminal part and the edges of the upper mandible are tinged with 

 pale pink, and the basal portion shows a slight bluish shade ; the long patch on the oilmen, 

 the edges of the nares, a small spot under the nares, and the basal two-thirds of lower part 

 of lower mandible being orange-yellow. That is, the Americans describe the bill of Anser 

 albifrons gambeli exactly as it is in the Russian and Siberian A. albifrons. Of the 

 latter I have given a sufficiently detailed statement of all I know in its proper place. In 

 regard to the bright orange-red colouring which, in Mr. Coburn's opinion, appears in birds 

 as the breeding period approaches, I think that when such birds are met with, it may be 

 at once assumed that they are particularly well-fed specimens, since I have no doubt that 

 this orange colour is the result of the deposit of subcutaneous fat. I cannot but add the 

 following remarks in conclusion. Mr. Coburn refers to an article in the Ibis for 1902 (p. 269) 

 by Mr. Gurney, to whom he sent for examination a specimen of lesser white-fronted goose 

 shot in Norfolk in January 1902. 



Now Mr. Gurney discussed the subject in question in the above-mentioned article, 

 where he gives drawings of the bill and part of the head of this supposed lesser white-fronted 

 species, and below a drawing of the bill and head of a specimen shot in Egypt. 



The most superficial inspection of Mr. Gurney's plate is quite enough to convince an 

 expert that the upper figure has nothing in common with the lower one, and the dimensions 

 of the bill, 1.50 inches ( = 38.10 mm.), exceed those of the largest Russian and Asiatic birds 

 of this species yet known to me. Besides this, the curvature of the edges of the bill in the 

 upper figure clearly testifies (if the drawing be correct) that we here have to do with no true 

 lesser white-fronted goose. I am very sorry that time did not allow me to ask the above- 

 named gentlemen to let me see their specimens, but I hope my present note will help to clear 

 up this interesting question and will show that all English white-fronted geese belong to 

 the ordinary species. 



Cross between White-fronted Goose and one of the Species of the Genus 



Melanonyx 



Before me lies the skin of a remarkable goose, obtained by Dr. Sushkin, which I 

 cannot regard as anything else than a hybrid between the white-fronted species with one of 

 the bean-geese, and most probably with the true bean-goose {Melanonyx segetum). 



As certified by Mr. F. K. Lorenz, this was a young female ; as is indeed evident from 

 the feathers of the back and scapulae being narrower than in adults. 



