92 Geese of Europe and Asia 



No serious importance, it seems to me, should be attached to the statement of the 

 occurrence of this species in Japan. Of course, I should be more certain on these points 

 had I specimens from India and Japan for determination, but in view of the impossibility 

 of this, I am driven to be content for the present with mere inferences. 



In regard to Spitzbergen, Mr. Trevor-Battye writes as follows: "The pink-footed 

 goose is distributed thinly, but generally, over a great part, at any rate, of Spitzbergen. 

 Its breeding habits do not differ, so far as my observation goes, from those of A. 

 erythropMS or A. segetum. Like these birds, it seldom, on the mainland, nests by the 

 sea, but retires inland, and chooses for its nest some elevated point overlooking a stream 

 or lake. Occasionally it nests upon small islands, and a female bird, with its nest, 

 eggs, and the surrounding turf, now in the National Collection, was obtained by me 

 on a small island off Cape Boheman on Ice- Fjord on June 26, the three eggs being 

 slightly incubated. This was the only pair of geese upon this island. I shot the 

 female as she flew off the nest, and the male for some time displayed great solicitude, 

 swimming round and round and calling incessantly, but never came within shot. . . . 

 On July 24 two broods of young were running with their parents, near the Splendid 

 Glacier. Both these broods were in an advanced state of grey — not yellow — down. . . . 

 I have elsewhere described the way in which a bean-goose will run along and then 

 squat with the neck stretched out along the ground exactly in the attitude assumed by 

 the thick-knee or Norfolk plover. The pink-footed geese of Spitzbergen behave in the 

 same way if they have their young with them." 



Mr. Trevor-Battye further adds that the nest is well guarded by the gander, 

 which at times quits its guard -post and begins to walk round and round the sitting 

 goose, along a path it has laid down, and meets an unbidden approach with a pro- 

 longed series of short, high notes, resembling those of the brent {Branta bernicla). 



As to the eggs, according to the evidence of various authors, these have a rather 

 smooth shell with a slight gloss. In form they present fairly regular ovals, with one 

 end somewhat sharper than the other. In colour they are yellowish white, and their 

 dimensions vary in length from 3.10 to 3.40 in. (= 78.7-86.3 mm.), with a diameter of 

 2.15 in. (= 54.8 mm.). 



These measurements are slightly exceeded by five eggs brought from Spitzbergen 

 by the Russian expedition, and now preserved in the Zoological Museum of the 

 St. Petersburg Academy of Science, as appears from the following table, drawn up by 

 Mr. G. F. Gobel :— 



Max. breadth 52.5 mm. (= 2.06 in.) with 80 mm. length (= 3.14 in.). 



Max. breadth 52.5 mm. (= 2.06 in.) with 76 mm. length ( = 2.99 in.). 



Min. breadth 50 mm. (= 1.96 in.) with 84 mm. length (= 3.30 in.). 



Max. length 84.5 mm. (= 3.32 in.) with 50 mm. breadth (= 1.96 in.). 



Min. length 76 mm. (= 2.99 in.) with 52.5 mm. breadth (= 2.06 in.). 



Weight 1050 cgrm. with 51.5 mm. breadth ( = 2.06 in.) and 83.5 mm. length (= 3.28 in.). 



Five specimens, mean breadth 51.5 mm. (= 2.02 in.); max. breadth 52.5 mm. (= 2.06 in.); min. breadth 50 mm. 



(= 1.96 in.). 

 Five specimens, mean length 80.9 mm. (= 3.18 in.); max. length 84.5 mm. (= 3.32 in.); min. length 76 mm. 



(= 2.99 in.). 



The note of this goose is described as similar to that of the other bean-geese, but 

 harsher and more piercing. In manner of life and habits this species also apparently 



