﻿PINK-LEGGED BEAN GOOSE. 15 



the morning, provided the direction in which their feeding- 

 ground lies has been ascertained, and thus intercepting them 

 on their return to it. 



The countries at present ascertained to be the breeding- 

 places of this Goose are, besides the Hebrides before men- 

 tioned, Finland, Norway, Sweden, the northern provinces 

 of Russia, and the borders of the Baltic. In the central 

 parts of Europe it appears far less common than the foregoing 

 species. 



The food of this bird needs no further description, except 

 to observe, that the oats, barley, wheat, buckwheat, etc., 

 which constitute its favourite food, are attacked in all stages, 

 from the time of their appearance above ground until they 

 are finally ripe and dry. But late in the spring, when, 

 after the disappearance of snow, grain and seeds are becoming 

 scarce, these Geese resort to swamps and bogs in order 

 to feed on the young shoots of rushes and flags, and even 

 draw up the very roots of these aquatic plants, biting their 

 fleshy but strong stems with their sharp-edged beaks. 



The appearance of this bird when on the ground is in 

 several respects different from the orange-legged species ; 

 in size it is considerably less ; the neck is shorter, the 

 ■wings more pointed, and extending much beyond the tip 

 of the tail, the beak is much smaller as w r ell as differently 

 marked, and the legs and feet differ so materially that they 

 cannot be mistaken. 



The adult male of the Pink Legged Bean Goose is 

 twenty-eight inches in length ; the wings extend when closed 

 an inch and a half beyond the tip of the tail, and measure 

 above seventeen inches from the carpus to the tip ; the 

 beak is an inch and three quarters long, and eleven lines 

 high at the base. 



The colouring of the plumage of the adult is as follows : 



