128 



Geese of Europe and Asia 



flesh-colouring of the band on the bill, the number of teeth on each side of the upper 

 mandible proved to exceed that in all the specimens of M. segetum serrirostris I had 

 previously seen, in which they varied from 20 to 26. 



Below is given a table of the chief characters of these three Anadyr geese, sufficient for 

 comparison with the specimens of M. segetum serrirostris examined by myself. 



From this my first idea was that these skins might belong to young individuals of 

 M. mentalis of Oates, 1 a goose as yet but little known, and of which the type specimen in 

 the British Museum has the whole chin white. This seemed the more probable from the 

 fact that the number of teeth on the sides of the upper mandible of the Anadyr specimens, 

 amounting in two cases to 25, was the same as in M. mentalis. 





Culmen. 



Greatest 



thickness of 



lower mandible, 



with shut bill. 



Number of 

 teeth on sides of 

 upper mandible. 



Proportion of 



nail of upper 



mandible to 



culmen. 



Wing. 



Remarks. 





mm. in. 



mm. in. 







mm. in. 





Label of skin, No. 222. 



70 = 2.75 



II =0.43 



22-23 



02 



475=18.70 



Band on bill regular, as in all 



6 adult, but not old. 













M. seg. serrirostris, but of dark 



May 29, 1902. Post 













flesh - colour. Feet orange. 



Novomariinsky. An- 













Belly very white. No white 



adyr district. 













feathering on chin. At base of 

 bill, above and laterally, several 

 light featherlets. 



Label of skin, No. 249. 



65 = 2.55 



II =0.43 



25-25 



ЗІ 



somewhat 



Colour of band not stated, but 



с* adult, but not old. 











shorter 



as label is marked "Novaia 



June 7, 1902. Ibid. 













Zemlia goose," it evidently was 

 dark flesh-colour. On chin, 

 large white patch. Feet orange. 



Label, No. 219. $ , not 



65 = 2.55 



II =0.43 



24-25 



ЗІ 



somewhat 



Band on bill "dark flesh-colour"; 



old. 





£ 







shorter 



almost whole of apical part of 



May 29, 1902. Ibid. 













chin white. Feet orange. 



Again, the dark flesh-colour of the band on the bills suggested the idea that this 

 might be normal for the thick-billed goose (M. mentalis), which had been little studied in 

 this respect, especially since in M. segetum serrirostris the bill is always described as yellow- 

 orange, as indeed it is in the specimens in collections. 



It is true, indeed, that in the three specimens of M. mentalis of which there is any 

 description at all, there is not only a light band on the bill, but the light colour extends more 

 or less irregularly back under the nostrils — a feature I have never noticed in M. serrirostris. 

 This must accordingly be kept in view, as it suggests another conclusion which is referred to 

 in the section on M. mentalis. 



I repeat, then, that when all this information was in my hands, and I received from 

 Mr. Frohawk a sketch of the bill of a red-rose-billed bean-goose killed in Holland, I thought 

 that it would be impossible to solve the puzzle without new and abundant material ; but, 

 little by little, by thinking over the question day and night, the whole difficulty began to 

 clear up. 



Still earlier, when I received from Mr. Buturlin the Kolguev bean-geese with 25 

 teeth on each side of the upper mandible, I realised that in that species the number of teeth 

 was not limited (as I formerly thought) to 21, but normally varied between 20 and 25. 



Almost at the same time I received from Mr. Frohawk the information that in 

 M. brachyrhynchus there sometimes occur 25 instead of the presumed 20-21 teeth; and 



1 See next section. 



