Bar-headed Goose 



45 



or has devoted so much care and observation to the investigation. " I have measured and 

 weighed," he writes, " a very large series of this species. The males average appreciably 

 larger than the females of the same age, but they take some years to attain their maximum 

 dimensions and weight, and many females are, therefore, as large or larger than many males, 

 and it seems therefore useless to give the dimensions of the two sexes separately. Apparent 

 adults varied as follows : — 



"Length . 

 Expanse 

 Wing . 

 Tail from vent 

 Tarsus . 

 Culmen . 

 Bill from gape 



Greatest depth, lower mandible, shut bill 

 Number of teeth, each side, upper mandible, 26-27. 

 Weight, 4-6 lbs. 14 oz. 



698-850 mm. ( = 27.50-33.50 in.). 



1422-1676 mm. (= 56-66 in.). 



406-482 mm. (= 16-19 in.). 



127-177 mm. ( = 5-7 in.). 



52-76 mm. ( = 2.50-3.30 in.). 



48.2-58.5 mm. (= 1.90-2.40 in.) (my measurements). 



45-58.5 mm. (= 1.80-2.30 in.). 



4 mm. ( = 0.15 in.) (my measurement). 



" I have weighed, I find, more than a hundred ; but I have never obtained one 

 weighing quite 7 lbs., yet Jerdon gives the weight as 7 lbs. to 8 lbs. Only two of my 

 specimens exceeded 6 lbs. 8 oz. The great majority are less than 6 lbs. 



"The legs and feet are bright orange, sometimes paler, occasionally only yellow; 

 claws horny black ; the irides deep brown ; the bill orangey-yellow to orange, rarely only 

 pale lemon-yellow, often paler or greenish towards the nostrils ; the nail black or blackish. 



" There is a prominent tubercle nearly half an inch long in old males, just below the 

 carpal joint, varying in dimensions according to sex and age, but always more prominent 

 than in the grey-lag and other geese already mentioned." 



I have examined the bills of several Central Asian specimens and convinced myself: 



Firstly, that the length of the nail of the upper mandible is contained more than 

 4 times in the total length of the culmen, seen from above ; 



Secondly, that the depth of the deepest part of the lower mandible with shut bill was 

 about 4 mm. ( = 0.15 in.) ; and, 



Thirdly, that the number of teeth on each side of the upper mandible, judging from 

 the shut bill, was 26-27. 



Geographical Distribution 



Central Asia in summer and the whole of India in the winter — this is, in broad 

 outline, the range of this species, which is evidently not extensive. 



If we examine in greatest detail the limits within which the bar-headed goose has 

 hitherto been found, by drawing a straight line from Lake Baikal to the eastern angle of 

 Koko-Nor and thence continuing it along the eastern portion of Assam and Burma to the 

 Indian Ocean, we shall obtain the approximate boundary, to the east of which this species 

 has not hitherto been observed. It seems, however, very probable that this goose will yet 

 be found wintering in the southern part of this area, namely, in Northern Siam, although 

 there are at present no direct indications of such occurrence. 



The western limit of the range passes over the mountains of the eastern part of 

 Russian Turkestan, the Pamirs, and the western edge of India, reaching in places westward 

 (exceptionally ?) to the middle course of the Amu Darya near the city of Karki. It is more 

 than likely that this goose occurs on the Pamirs in far greater numbers than is commonly 

 supposed. 



