124 



Geese of Europe and Asia 



yield to the males in size, and the bill in these does not attain the massiveness characteristic 

 of old ganders. Unfortunately, I have to make all these statements from inadequate 

 material, and it is quite probable that the variations in the colouring and dimensions of the 

 goose are really much more considerable. 



Young Male 



A young male with culmen 59 mm. ( = 2.32 in.), and depth of lower mandible 

 10.5 mm. ( = 0.41 in.) in the thickest place (bill shut), from Mongolia (river Etyr), is 

 distinguished in nowise as regards colouring from the adults, and is probably a two- 

 year-old bird. 



I know nothing of young birds in first plumage or of the young in down. 



Dimensions of Adult Birds of Both Sexes 



Total length ...... 



Wing ....... 



Culmen ...... 



Greatest depth of lower mandible with shut bill 

 Tarsus ....... 



Length of median digit without claw 



776-825 mm. ( = 30.50-32.40 in.). 

 425-450 mm. (= 16.70-17.70 in.). 

 62-72 mm. ( = 2.44-2.83 in.). 

 10-12 mm. ( = 0.39-0.47 in.). 

 73-85 mm. ( = 2.78-3.34 in.) 

 71-75 mm. ( = 2.79-2.95 in.). 



Number of teeth on each side of upper mandible, 20-25. 



I here give a table of bill-measurements in several specimens :- 



Sex. 



6 



6 

 ? 



?? 



6 

 6 



Culmen. 



64 mm. 



62 



69 



68 



72 



71 



65 



5Э 

 )J 

 )J 



II 



= 2.51 in.) 



= 2.44 II ) 



= 2.71 

 = 2.67 



= 2.*3 1,) 



= 2.79 „ ) 



= 2.55 „ ) 



n) 



) 



Visible depth of lower mandible 

 with shut bill. 



10 



mm. ( 



1 1 



" \ 



12 



" V 



11. 7 



" \ 



12 



" V 



"•5 



" \ 



11 



" V 



-0.39 in.) 



= °-43 » ) 



= o.47 i, ) 



= 0.46 „ ) 



= o.47 11 ) 



= o.45 ,. ) 



= o.43 ,i ) 



Number of teeth 



on side of upper 



mandible. 



20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 20 

 21 



Barnaul, from Prof. N. F. Kashchenko. 



Sakhalin, Coll. ofZool. Mus., St. Petersburg 

 Chukchiland, ,, „ 



31 



Japan ? (or China ?). 



Yakutsk, Coll. of Prof. M. A. Menzbier. 



The dimensions of this goose (first separated by Gould (MS.) under the name of 

 Anser serrirostris, but described subsequently by Swinhoe) apparently show a con- 

 siderable increase as we approach the East, this being particularly the case, as it seems 

 to me, in regard to the massiveness of the bill. 



In view of the fact that the chief character distinguishing this Oriental form of 

 bean-goose from the Western type is the bill, I dwell in somewhat greater detail on the 

 description of this part. 



While the bill of adults of the typical M. segetum never apparently exceeds 

 61 mm. ( = 2.36 in.) in length, that of the Eastern form (M. serrirostris) varies in oilmen- 

 length between 62 and 72 mm. ( = 2.44—2.83 in.). 



Still more striking than its length is the thickness, or massiveness, of the bill, which 

 is shown in the size and strength of the nails on both mandibles, and in the depth, 

 or thickness, of the lower one. Although this last character, first noted by Mr. Oates, 

 undoubtedly much facilitates the discrimination of the different species and varieties of the 

 genus Melanonyx, even on cursory inspection, yet this is only seen by comparing it with the 



