BIRDS 235 



stopped it effectually with the second barrel. In the dusk the 

 blue portion of the wings appeared to be nearly white. I called 

 to see the bird at his house next day, and found it to be in first- 

 rate condition, a very handsome old gander, having many black 

 feathers on the belly. Its companion escaped uninjured. In 

 1891 a gaggle of seven Grey Lag Geese made their appearance 

 upon Newton salt marsh on February 26, and on the following 

 day my friend Bob Law had a shot at them and killed one of 

 the number. He carried it to Nicol, who told him that it was 

 the first Grey Lag that he had ever seen in the flesh : a splendid 

 bird (as he described it), with flesh-coloured feet and very light 

 shoulders. Unfortunately, Law thought it was too big for a 

 cabinet specimen, and therefore sent it off with other wildfowl 

 to a game-dealer at Wigton. Nicol, having previously shot the 

 Bean, Pink-footed, and White-fronted Geese, was anxious as a 

 sportsman to add the Grey Lag Goose to his list of ' kills/ but 

 their wariness secured their safety. If disturbed on the marshes 

 they flew to a neighbouring moss. He could always distinguish 

 them from Bean Geese by their light shoulders and compara- 

 tively light-coloured breasts. He saw them for the last time on 

 March 6, flying high in an easterly direction. With regard to 

 weight, we found that the bird killed by Smith just turned the 

 scale at 8 lbs. Those shot by the Messrs. Mann weighed 9 \ 

 and 10 lbs., while the female shot near Langwathby weighed 

 6 lbs. The occurrence of this species in the west of Cumber- 

 land has been ascertained by Dr. Parker, who tells me that a 

 neighbour of his shot a goose of this species near Gosforth in 

 November 1889. Mr. Heywood Thompson has met with it in 

 the Morecambe Bay ; but I fancy that it is rare there. 



BEAN GOOSE. 



Anser segetum (Gmel.). 



Dr. Heysham knew the Bean Goose as very frequent in Cum- 

 berland in severe winters. Hitherto it has been the common 

 Grey Goose of our faunal area, or at least of that portion of 

 Lakeland which is much visited by any kind of Grey Geese. 

 During the last eight winters, excepting those of 1885-86, 



