Eastern Bean-Goose 127 



''According to the observations of Pavlovsky, who saw the last birds of this species 

 on September 25 on the Ygetta (64 N. lat.), their departure commenced on September 2, 

 on the Markha, at the mouth of the Khaingia (65 N. lat). 



" Near the town of Nerchinsk, these geese were killed on May 1, in the valley of 

 the Shilka, at the Shilka works ; and I saw hundreds of skeins, during a slight shower, 

 flying high or low over the river. The last flocks I saw at the Shilka works on May 17, 

 when they were flying N. and N.N.W." 



As to Middendorffs statement concerning M. segetmn on the Taimyr peninsula, it is 

 evident, as already said, that it must in part refer to the typical yellow-billed M. arvensis, 

 and in part to M. segetum serrirostris. As the Taimyr peninsula is a vast tract, it is quite 

 probable that in various parts of it there may breed the typical yellow-billed, Middendorffs 

 goose, and the species here described ; while in the more westerly portion of this peninsula 

 it is possible (although not probable) that the typical bean-goose may occur. To clear this 

 up will require time and careful determination, and until this is done there is no possibility 

 of saying anything definite with regard to the geese of this great region. 



Middendorff observes that M. segetum nests throughout the Taimyr tundras, and 

 that it appeared soon after April 14 on the Boganida (70 N. lat.). On July 1 he 

 found in 74 N. latitude a nest with four eggs partly incubated, which were subsequently 

 eaten by a skua (Lestris ftomarind). The nest, which consisted of a hollow in the top of a 

 grassy tussock about two feet high, on the bank of the river itself, was lined with stems of 

 last years weeds, and a small quantity of down. On July 17 these geese on Taimyr 

 began to moult, and as late as July 26 countless gaggles were seen in moult. By the 

 end of July the majority had finished moulting, and on August 8 small groups of 

 from three to seven birds were to be seen, which were called by the natives detniki (parents), 

 consisting of birds of both sexes. About this time fully fledged geese were continually 

 making for the sea in vast flocks. 



Middendorff adds that these geese are also met with in the south-east, and that 

 they were noticed for the first time at Anginsk on April 23. Somewhat later, large 

 flocks appeared. The species breeds on the Stanovoi range, as also on the island of 

 Shantar. On August 30 the first gaggles returned to the shore of the Okhotsk Sea, 

 where they halted, and remained as late as September 19 in enormous flocks, which, 

 far away from water, fed exclusively on bilberries. 



After the present notice was finished, I received from Professor M. A. Menzbier, in 

 January 1903, several goose-skins collected by Mr. Sokolnikov in the Anadyr district, three 

 of which are very interesting and at first greatly puzzled me. Owing to the inscriptions on 

 their labels, I did not at once recognise them as Siberian bean-geese. As a matter of fact, 

 in the conformation of the bill and in all its dimensions, these three geese agree exactly with 

 M. segehim serrirostris ; whereas on the labels it is stated that the band on the bill is 

 "dark flesh-colour," and the feet "orange/' Moreover, as Mr. Sokolnikov marks these 

 birds as from Novaia Zemlia, they seemed to correspond with what M. carneirostris of 

 Buturlin ought to be, according to the description. 



We have, however, already seen in the notice of that species that it was based on notes 

 alone, and that, after careful consideration of the question, I was unable to recognise the 

 specific distinctness of the " Novaia Zemlia bean-goose," and regarded it merely as a 

 dimorphous form of Melanonyx segetum. Moreover, in addition to the aforesaid dark 



