Bar-headed Goose 137 



in the marshes, probably for lack of cliffs in the neighbourhood, where these geese usually 

 nest when in the mountains. 



" In the pairing season the male frequently pursues the female on the wing, turning 

 somersaults in the air like a raven. 



"The mountain-goose is fairly tame, and remarkably inquisitive, especially if not in 

 flocks; and when a pair are pursued they will fly not unfrequently towards the fowler, 

 squatting in the grass or lying flat on the ground." 



In another passage the same writer observes, as if in continuation of the last phrase : 

 " If one of the pair be killed, the survivor (especially the male) flies with a cry round its dead 

 mate, and usually itself gets shot. 



" Having noticed a pair flying in the distance, I lay on the ground and began to 

 gently wave my cap ; on seeing this, the geese flying past swept round in my direction, 

 and often flew right over my head. 



"The cry of this species is a somewhat whimpering but rather loud note. The 

 goslings, of which there are from five to eight in a brood, keep with their parents about the 

 streams or lakes by which they were hatched. The old birds at this time begin to moult, 

 and by the beginning of July, when the young birds have almost grown up, are so devoid of 

 feathers that they are quite unable to fly. 1 The mountain-geese, at other seasons rather 

 trustful, then become very wary. 



"On the large lakes, such as Koko-Nor, where there are very many of these geese, 

 scores of broods combine for mutual defence. 



"Usually a flock will wander along the shores of a lake or on the neighbouring 

 marshes, cropping the grass ; but on perceiving a fowler, even half a mile off, all the geese rush 

 headlong into the lake and swim far away. They run very fast, probably faster than a man." 



Severtsov, who described it under the name of Anser skorniakovi, gives us very little 

 information with regard to this species, although we learn from him that it was first 

 discovered on Chatyr-kul and Son-kul. 



Godlewski found it on the southern part of Lake Baikal, and he and Dybowski noticed 

 it in flocks on Kosogol, where it breeds in small numbers. 



Mr. Hume observed this goose in great flocks in India ; and Mr. Oates also furnishes 

 us with some valuable notes respecting this species, the substance of which is quoted 

 below. The geographical distribution of this species in India is indeed well described 

 by the latter author, who gives a concise and clear picture of the general disposition of 

 its winter haunts. 



"The bar-headed goose," he writes, "visits the plains of India in the cold weather, 

 arriving in October and leaving in March, or even April, but these dates vary, of course, 

 according to locality and climate. This species may be considered a common bird in 

 Northern India from the Punjab to Assam. On the western side it appears to occur as far 

 south as Sind, and rarely in the Bombay Presidency ; it is common in the Central Provinces ; 

 and on the east coast it extends down to the Chilka Lake. In Southern India this goose is by 

 no means so rare as it is generally deemed. It has been found in large numbers in Mysore. 

 . . . Jerdon, on one occasion, observed this species in the extreme south of India. It is not 

 known in Ceylon. South of Assam, this goose has been observed ... in Sylhet and . . . 

 in Manipur. It occurs ... on the Chindwin River, and ... is common enough in the 

 Irrawaddy River and adjacent tanks and backwaters, down to Myingyan at the least." 



1 A common feature of all geese, swans, and ducks, as the flight-feathers always fall out simultaneously. 



