342 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



bird, and it at once gives us a totally distinct-looking appearance 

 to the first specimen or any other immature stage of A. gambeli. 

 Here we have a bird whose parents do not require entirely black 

 under parts for the breeding period ! The whole of the under 

 parts, from the breast to the abdomen, are a pale stone drab 

 fringed with lighter, and becoming almost white towards the 

 abdomen. None of these feathers shows the slightest traces of 

 having had the dark colouring matter in them which is to be 

 found up to the fourth stage in A. gambeli. The flanks are a 

 darker drab with pale margins. The mantle is pale umber 

 margined with drab. Bump blackish umber ; upper tail-coverts 

 much paler than in gambeli, being a washy brown and dirty 

 white. The tail is very like that of gambeli, but a paler tint of 

 dark umber. Round the base of the bill and under the throat a 

 fair space of dirty white feathers interspersed with blackish 

 ones ; forehead and front cheeks blackish, but in no way as dark 

 as the other bird ; head and neck a dark rusty drab, darkest on 

 crown and back of neck. Outer wing-coverts slaty drab, gradu- 

 ally darkening into deep umber margined with paler of the 

 medians, and slaty drab broadly margined with dirty white of 

 the first coverts. Primaries dark umber but with a light hoary 

 shading, secondaries nearly black. Alula and base of primaries 

 a hoary slate. Abdomen and under tail-coverts dirty white. 

 There was not sufficient difference in the colours of soft parts in 

 these two birds to induce me to make special notes, and I find 

 that in my manuscript book which I keep for recording colours 

 of soft parts the one description answers for both birds ; but the 

 legs and bill look much paler now than those of the first speci- 

 men. The ridge of the bill shows traces of dark markings, and 

 the nail is partly brown and dirty white. I did not take length 

 and weight of this bird before skinning. "Wing 15 in. ; bill 

 1*85 in. ; tarsus 2*45 in. 



Anser gambeli. — Second, third, and fourth stages. From birds 

 shot in Clonmel and Galway, November, 1901, February, 

 1895, and January, 1902. 



I can now take these three stages more briefly. In the 

 second stage — male — one can unmistakably see the commence- 

 ment of the fading away of the dark colouring matter which 



