i 36 Geese of Europe and Asia 



Although it is at present impossible to determine where the northern boundary of 

 its range runs, yet we know that this goose breeds in great numbers on the Thian-shan alpine 

 lakes (saz) } and probably still farther north than the Thian-shan proper, namely, over the 

 whole of the Ala-tau. I make this suggestion on the ground that I myself had the oppor- 

 tunity of observing in August on the Little Yuldus, in the Thian-shan, a multitude of 

 migratory flocks of bar-headed geese flying extremely high over the mountain masses of 

 the latter, from north to south ; * and whence could these flocks be flying, if not from the 

 Ala-tau range? We cannot yet ascertain where lies the northern limit of the breeding- 

 grounds of this species farther eastward. 



Here it may be mentioned that Dr. Sushkin, in his journey to the Minusinsk district 

 in the summer of 1902, made the following notes, which I extract in full from a letter of the 

 eminent ornithologist : "Anser indicus does not occur at all in the locality I have visited 

 but it appears in vast numbers on crossing the Tannu-Ola range into Mongolia proper from 

 the land of Uryankhai. 



" This is unanimously asserted by both Soyots and Russian traders. They call this 

 species the Mongolian goose, and describe it as smaller than the domesticated bird, with a 

 very light grey colour like the wing of a bustard or sea-gull, a yellow bill, and black streaks 

 on the head, like a hood." 



On the whole, it is quite possible that farther eastwards the northern limit of the breeding 

 grounds ascends somewhat, since flocks of these geese were met with by Dybowski and 

 Godlewski on Koso-gol, and by the latter in July 1876, a gander (from a pair) was killed on Lake 

 Baikal. The chief centres of the breeding range of this species are, however, undoubtedly the 

 lakes of the Tibetan plateau, and in the south Kashmir, Ladak, and in all probability Sikhim. 



So far as is yet known, this goose breeds nowhere beyond the mountain zone. It 

 winters throughout India, mainly in the northern provinces, in countless numbers ; in the 

 south of India, on the other hand, it is met with in far smaller numbers, and in Ceylon it 

 is unknown. Although it may occur in winter in South Afghanistan and Baluchistan, I 

 have found no record to that effect. It is very probable that it dwells here and there perma- 

 nently in the Himalaya, but it has nowhere been found nesting below an elevation of 

 6000 feet; and for this reason it may bear the name of " mountain goose" bestowed by 

 Przewalski. 



Migrating to its breeding grounds in spring it occurs, for example, but rarely on Lob- 

 Nor, according to that explorer, but in autumn, if we believe native report, it visits that lake 

 in great numbers. Hence it is clear that it has migration routes which are by no means 

 constant in spring and autumn — a feature common to several other species of geese, as I 

 have noted, for example, in the case of the greater and lesser white-fronted species. 



The details of the distribution of this goose, within the above limits, cannot yet be 

 worked out ; and only in regard to its winter haunts do we possess fuller data than for 

 several other species of geese, as is noted below in the extracts from the works of Messrs. 

 Hume and Oates. 



Przewalski gives us the following details on the habits and behaviour of the " mountain 

 goose": "This species," he writes, "nests exclusively on mountain swamps and along 

 streams or meres on high plateaux, as on Koko-Nor, where it arrives in early spring — about 

 the end of February or beginning of March. From the time of their arrival these geese 

 associate in flocks of from five to twenty individuals, and soon proceed to build their nests 



1 Against a strong south-east wind. 



