Barnacle Goose 173 



Number of teeth on each side of upper mandible not less than 30. 

 Weight, according to Mr. H. L. Popham, based on 55 individuals ; maximum 5 lbs., 

 minimum 2^, and average 4 lbs. 1 



Geographical Distribution 



With regard to Russia scarcely anything is known in reference to the range of this 

 species. Why Professor M. A. Menzbier denies the possibility of its breeding in the 

 Taimyr peninsula, and hence its traverse of the Transural lakes, seems unintelligible. The 

 fact that Middendorff did not personally meet with this goose in Siberia is, in any case, 

 less indicative of its absence than are the Russian and native names of its presence in that 

 country. 



On the contrary, it seems to me that its Russian name in Turukhansk, varegui 

 — the Yakut, lyglyyd — and Samoyed, dyorydnku or dyor in the Taimyr district, are 

 undoubtedly in favour of its occurrence, and doubtless also of its nesting there ; and once 

 this is admitted, there are no grounds for questioning its occurrence on the Transural lakes, 

 as stated by Mr. Sabaneev on the authority of natives of the Perm Government. 



Accordingly, I am quite prepared to believe that the barnacle goose breeds in the 

 Siberian tundra eastwards to the Taimyr peninsula. Another circumstance in favour of 

 this opinion is that once in England a red -breasted bird was shot among a flock of 

 barnacle geese. 2 



If we examine this question somewhat more closely we shall inevitably come 

 to the conclusion that these two geese must somewhere nest in company, but from our 

 knowledge of the breeding range of the red-breasted goose, we are driven to conclude that 

 this can occur only in the western part of North Siberia. Otherwise, it would be 

 impossible to explain the above-mentioned occurrence of red-breasted in a flock of barnacle 

 geese. Of course this is no more than the logical result of the analysis of the facts, but it 

 has, I think, a great share of probability. On the other hand, the circumstance that 

 explorers of Northern Siberia have not met with this goose is, in my opinion, of no import- 

 ance whatever. There is much that they have not yet ascertained about that country, and, 

 indeed, we have no right to demand more than they have at present accomplished in the 

 way of determining the local fauna, knowing how difficult it is to discover, note, and 

 collect everything in a comparatively short time in regions so difficult, so vast, and so 

 inaccessible. I repeat that I fully trust the statements of Pallas and the statements of 

 Yakuts and Samoyeds as cited by Middendorff, that the barnacle goose is a member of 

 the northern fauna, at least, of the more western part of Siberia. This question may 

 therefore be regarded as still open, and in nowise as finally decided in the negative. 



As regards the authenticity of the identified breeding-grounds of this goose in 

 Russia, we may point to Novaia Zemlia and Kolguev, this species probably nesting in the 

 latter area in comparatively very small numbers. 



The migration routes, given by Professor Menzbier, include the region of the 

 Varanger fjord, the littoral of the Baltic border, Lake Chud, the coast of the St. Petersburg 

 Government, the southern seaboard of Finland, and the Aaland Islands, with rare visits to 

 Poland and Pskov. To these I can add the Mezen, where on May 18, 1840, an adult 

 male, now preserved in the Zoological Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy, was 



1 The Fields January 17, 1903, p. 2612. 2 See notice of red-breasted goose. 



