NOTES AND QUERIES. Ill 



a still greater puzzle to some ornithologists. Mr. Frohawk {ante, 

 p. 41) describes the two supposed species arvensis and segetnm, and 

 gives drawings of the bill. He says that segetum is the rare species, 

 and that arvensis, with the band of white feathers at the base of the 

 bill, is the common British species of Bean-Goose. Has Mr. Frohawk 

 got his numbers mixed ? Should plates iii. and iv. with the white 

 band be segetum and not arvensis, and vice versa ? 1 ask this question 

 for a very good reason, viz. that the few Bean-Geese that have passed 

 through my hands have had no white band, and therefore must have 

 all been the rare species, segetum ! Of course, compared with the 

 Pink-foot, White-fronted, and Bernicle Geese, I have not had much to 

 do with the Bean-Goose, but still the fact remains that the few I have 

 handled have had no white band, and, according to Mr. Frohawk's 

 plates, must have been specimens of segetum. Of course I do not 

 believe for a moment that there are two species of Pink-foot and Bean 

 and three of White-fronted Geese occurring in this country. I think 

 that the variations in plumage are merely due to age, and perhaps sex 

 may also have something to do with it, although I rather doubt this 

 latter statement after my observations on the Pink-footed species. 



Mr. Coburn gives an example of arvensis which had no white band 

 of feathers at the base of the bill, as mentioned in Mr. Frohawk's 

 article (ante, p. 41). This shows that there are variations between the 

 bills of segetum and arvensis, which makes me more confirmed in saying 

 that there is only one species of this Goose. We might as well make 

 out this example to be yet another species. Again, Mr. Frohawk says 

 that in A. segetum there are, as a rule, no white feathers at the base of 

 the bill, excepting in old birds, where a small frontal patch of greyish 

 white may occur. More variations between the so-called two species. 

 I should rather say that the white patches at the base of the bill in the 

 Bean-Goose are a sign of immaturity, and not of old age. 



Mr. J. M. Pike's letter in the 'Field' (Dec. 20th, 1902) shows, 

 again, that there are variations between segetum and arvensis. The 

 following is an extract from his letter describing A. arvensis : — " The 

 bills of the better defined specimens are orange -yellow, with the 

 exception of the nail, an elongated heart-shaped piece running up 

 towards the feathers, and the ridges of the indentations beneath; 

 these are black. This agrees with Mr. Frohawk's statement, but it is 

 limited to the better defined specimens. ," He goes on to say : — " The 

 amount of yellow on the bill varies considerably, to such an extent that it 

 appeared possible that a complete series from the single band seen in 

 A. segetum to the nearly all yellow of A. arvensis could be obtained." 



