138 Geese of Europe and Asia 



After a few more details, Mr. Oates concludes that the " bulk of the Indian visitors 

 probably come to us from Central Asia." 



This is what Mr. Hume has to say :" Their habits are similar to those of the grey- 

 lags. Where frequently disturbed, they feed inland only at night ; where rarely molested, 

 they will be found feeding up to eight or nine in the morning, and again long before sunset. 

 The day, or at all events the warmer hours of this, they pass by the water's side. They feed 

 in fields, preferentially in those in the immediate neighbourhood of the larger rivers, browsing 

 on the young wheat or waddling awkwardly amongst the heavy clods, amidst which the gram 

 grows, to devour the young shoots, or later the ripening pods of this vetch. All vetches, 

 lentils, grain, tender grasses, and herbs seem equally to suit their taste, and so long as these 

 are available they eat nothing else, and by the end of December (thin and poor as they 

 usually are when they first arrive) they are generally in fine condition. . . . 



"The note of the bar-headed goose is quite distinct from that of the grey-lag. It is 

 sharper, harder, less sonorous, and more strident. I hardly know how to put it in words, 

 but it is so distinct that you can never doubt, even when the flock is passing overhead high 

 in air, during the night, to which species it belongs. The two species never mingle 

 companies ; you may see half a dozen of the one along with a flock of the other, but whether 

 feeding, sleeping, swimming, or flying, the parties keep a little apart." 



Like the grey -lag, the Indian goose rarely settles on water, unless alarmed. 

 According to Mr. Damant, in Manipur this goose has the following habit: "I have often 

 watched them," he writes, " returning from their feeding-grounds to the lake where they intend 

 to pass the day ; their cry is heard before they can themselves be seen ; they then appear 

 flying in the form of a wedge, each bird keeping its place with perfect regularity ; when they 

 reach the lake they circle round once or twice, and, finally, before settling, each bird tumbles 

 over in the air two or three times precisely like a tumbler pigeon. After they have once 

 settled they preserve no regular formation." 



Mr. Hume also cites the interesting observations of Colonel Tickell : " They are first 

 noticed in Bengal about the middle of October, flying, like the crane, in single diagonal (or 

 echelon) lines, or in two lines, forming an acute angle. At such times their mingled voices 

 sound like ill-blown clarionets, each emitting a single note. As they wend along in the air 

 the leading bird is seen every four or five minutes to drop to the rear, its place being 

 immediately filled by the next one, which is in turn relieved by the next, and so on. This 

 movement is to be seen amongst cranes, pelicans, spoonbills, swans, and other birds which 

 perform long migratory voyages ; from which it would seem that the leading bird meets with 

 greater resistance from the air than do the succeeding files, and thus requires to be relieved 

 after a certain time from its post. 



"When about to settle, the line breaks up, and the birds, mingling together, sweep 

 round in circles, approaching nearer and nearer to the earth, till, with a great flapping of 

 wings, they settle." 



Very little is known of the nidification of this species. It is asserted that on the 

 lakes of Ladak and Tibet these geese breed indifferently in fresh and salt waters ; but 

 I find this difficult to believe, as I know that even purely marine ducks and geese (for 

 example, eiders and brent) invariably breed near fresh water, and could hardly do 

 without it in rearing their young. It is stated that they select by preference small eyots 

 on lakes ; according to others, as we saw from Przewalski, they nest on cliffs. Probably 

 both modes occur, according to circumstances and the convenience afforded by different spots. 



